


The Face That Launched 1000 Shits

by nolovedeepweab



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Aromantic!Kyoutani, Asexual!Kyoutani, Family Problems, Friendship, Gen, KYOUTANI X YACHI IS NOT A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP IN THIS FIC, Mentions of past abuse, More characters to be added later, bisexual!Yachi, free form, go platonic relationships, this is a fic about FRIENDSHIP
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2018-05-23 12:36:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 50,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6116703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nolovedeepweab/pseuds/nolovedeepweab
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two months into his first semester of College and Kyoutani has already made about fifteen or more terrible mistakes.</p><p>Two and a half months into his first semester and he meets someone who’s both terrified of him and willing to shoulder his burdens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rough Starts

**Author's Note:**

> Since I'm asexual I really wanted to start a fic centered around an asexual character and i just had this idea for a story and really like the idea of Kyoutani being asexual and aromantic
> 
> and like kyoutani and hachi being besties is the best and u can fight me about it
> 
> also i apologize for my very choppy writing. I'm not good at writing long pieces and this got a little longer than i was expecting... I haven't written something this long in english in one sitting in a long time so i apologize for shit spelling and grammar ahead of time.

         Two months into his first semester of College and Kyoutani has already made about fifteen or more terrible mistakes. One of which was; despite being underage, accepting any and every drinking challenge at any party he went to. It got to the point where he wasn’t even sure if he was doing it to enjoy himself, he just did it because it was the one thing that created a sort of bond between him and his peers. Kyoutani knew from rumors that he wasn’t a pleasant drunk to be around, yet because of these parties and his stubbornness to not decline any dare he received when drunk gained him some “friends”. The group of said friends that he created was impressed by how much he could drink at the first party where they met. After that it sort of became a reoccurring pattern at each party he went to. He knew that these friends weren’t genuine; he knew he was shit at communication and making relationships with others so he never bothered. But drinking made it convenient, so he drank.

 

Another terrible mistake he made, was not continuing volleyball. Despite never have gotten along with past teammates, after entering College he realized how much he missed the sport, how much it served as an outlet for him. He didn’t think about volleyball often, but the moments where his head wandered there, a huge, aching feeling of regret and unexplainable emptiness filled his body. So that led him to make more terrible mistakes.

 

It was nearing the end of October, time was slowly creeping up to the always-dreaded midterms, and Kyoutani was hardly aware. Despite the amount of time he spent cutting class and going off to dick around with his friends, Kyoutani’s grades weren’t that low. Well, they weren’t especially good, but he was in a safe zone of “I-can-do-bare-minimum-and-pass”.

 

There’s a halloween party tomorrow and Kyoutani and his friends were too ‘excited’ about that to want to sit through class. Kyoutani didn’t really show any of his excitement, mainly because he wasn’t really excited. He just planned to go because he had nothing else to do, and pretended to be ‘hyped’ because his friends were and it would be out of place for him to think otherwise. He wasn’t averse to going either. He wanted to drink, he wanted to be stuck in that short time span of not having to think or care about anything. But at the same time he was tired of it. He was tired of the same hype to do something crazy. It was not only starting to get boring, but he was slowly getting more and more sick of the people he was hanging out with. He always ruminated about their sickeningly annoying and whiney personalities, always doing this and that to fit in. Kyoutani knew he had a temper and it literally took the outmost effort to not lose it from time to time and punch one of them in the face. But he restrained because these were his _friends_ and _friends don’t just randomly scream and punch each other._

 

“Kyo-chan?? Are you listening?” A shrill voice sounded next to where he was sitting.

 

Kyoutani grunted and outwardly cringed at the nickname and tried not to punch the source of the voice on reflex.

 

“What’s with that response? God”

 

Kyoutani looked at the girl sitting next to him, her hair died blonde and a blinding amount of shiny glitter makeup applied to her face. This was Miyuki and she was one of his so-called friends. He’d been having lunch with them and sort of spaced out mid conversation. He did this often when he hung out with them; it was the only way he could stand being with them for long periods of time. Honestly, this whole maintaining relationships thing was probably the most tiring thing that Kyoutani’s ever done.

 

“ _Anyway_ , we were discussing what to be for the Halloween party, and Kyo-chan! Do you have any idea what you’re gonna dress up as?”

 

“Nothing” Kyoutani deadpanned.

 

“What?! You can’t go to a Halloween party and _not_ dress up!” Mayuki shrieked.

 

“Watch me”

 

“No, no, no, no, you’re dressing up as something” Mayuki wagged her finger back and forth at him.

 

Kyoutani crinkled his nose at the action.

 

“Oi, what if Kyoutani dressed up as a cop? That’d be so contradictory to his appearance” The dude sitting on the other side of Kyoutani pitched in.

 

Kyoutani must have made some sort of face of disapproval at this because soon after everyone erupted with laughter.

 

The dude sitting next to Kyoutani, Jin, spoke up again, still chuckling lightly “So that’s a no-go”

 

“No shit” Kyoutani grunted.

 

The group continued to tease at what Kyoutani should be for Halloween and he mostly just blocked it out and went back to spacing out and fiddling with his phone. Whatever they decided for him to be, he’d just ignore it and show up in his normal clothes. When he finished up his food he grunted a “see ya” and left the table to head back to his apartment. He heard a few voices yelling “how rude!” as he left, seeing as he just exited mid-conversation and left all of his trash with them.

 

Kyoutani shared his apartment with three other people. He rarely spoke with any of them and was either in his room or not in the apartment at all, so he never ran into them much. He’s not entirely sure how he ended up being roommates with some of the most annoyingly energetic people he’s ever met, but if that flyer looking for people who needed a room also included the aggravating personalities of the other tenants Kyoutani would have turned it down. But the price for rent was too good, and here he was sharing an apartment with Lev Haiba, Hinata Shouyou, and Kageyama Tobio.

 

When he got home everyone was out, probably still in classes. He headed straight to his room and closed the door. When he first moved into the apartment he would have to lock the door or Lev would come into his room and bother him, but after enough anger outbursts, Lev, and the other roommates, learned not to barge into Kyoutani’s room. Ever.

 

Immediately after dropping his shit on the floor, he flopped on the bed and decided to take a nap and continue to ignore his homework or other responsibilities. Trying to be a functioning human of society and having to deal with people for most of the day was hard enough.

 

***

 

What felt like only 10 minutes after falling asleep, Kyoutani was awoken by loud squawking sounds from what was probably the living room. As he sat up in bed, he noticed how it had gotten dark out and that he must have been out for much longer than he thought. His stomach growled and he groggily got out of bed, probably looking shittier than he did before he took the nap, and made his way to the kitchen.

 

When he walked out into the conjoined Kitchen-Living room area, everyone paused their conversation to look at him. All of his roommates were there plus two people he wasn’t familiar with. One of them was a very uninterested looking boy with blonde hair and black roots who was currently invested in some game on his PSP. The other was a petite girl who also had blonde hair and made a small yelp when she saw Kyoutani walk into the room. She looked like a scared wet Chihuahua in his opinion.

 

Kyoutani raised his eyebrow at the silence and stares and just turned to walk into the kitchen, too tired to be concerned. It always got strangely quiet when Kyoutani would make himself present in the apartment, his roommates probably not knowing exactly how to interact with him. He didn’t really care what they talked about and wasn’t paying attention half the time, so he didn’t quite understand why they had to pause every time he was there, it felt as if they were saying something that he shouldn't hear. Or was him being there supposed to be no-fun-quiet time? He didn’t think too hard about it and just opened the fridge, looking around for something to make.

 

The conversation in the living room slowly picked back up, and whatever flow they had before came back. Kyoutani closed the fridge and got some rice out and started the rice cooker. He planned to go back into his room while he waited for the rice to be done, but apparently Hinata had other plans.

 

Hinata stood in the entryway of the kitchen, blocking Kyoutani before he could leave. Although Hinata would be easy to move out of the way, Kyoutani just stood in front of him and waited for him to speak.

 

“Uh, u-um, Hey Kyoutani! We haven’t seen or spoken to you in a while, huh?” Hinata nervously laughed.

 

Kyoutani just grunted in response, his face saying “What could you possibly need to talk to me about”

 

“Anywho, I was wondering if you’ve met Kenma and Yachi before?” Hinata anxiously glanced from Kyoutani back to his friends in the living room.

 

“No, but what does it matter?” Kyoutani stated gruffly.

 

“Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to-“

 

“No, not really” Kyoutani huffed and pushed passed Hinata, knocking the smaller boy over slightly, and made his way back to his room.

 

When he returned to his room, Kyoutani haphazardly looked over some reading for class but then just ended up playing on his phone for majority of the twenty minutes it took for his rice to cook. While he waited, he could hear everyone in the living room get boisterous with laughter from time to time. For some reason it frustrated him. Not in the “jesus christ everyone shut up” way, but more like he was frustrated because he couldn’t understand. How was it they could act like that with each other but when he’s in the mix everything changes? How come when he hangs out with his _friends_ the air seems nothing quite like that? What’s different? Kyoutani closed his eyes and huffed in frustration as the ringer on his timer went off, signaling that the rice was done. He left his room to go finish up the rest of his meal; this time the room didn’t go quiet again when he re-entered.

 

Kyoutani took some eggs, ham, cheese, and other vegetables out of the fridge to make an omelet to put over his rice. As he finished up and got a plate out, Lev’s large figure was leaning over the kitchen counter, peering at Kyoutani’s food.

 

“No” Kyoutani growled, before Lev could even say anything.

 

“I’m not after your food, sheesh! It just smelled really good” Lev defended.

 

Kyoutani just made a sound of acknowledgement, but didn’t try any further to lengthen the conversation.

 

“Hey, why don’t you eat here instead of your room?” Lev offered enthusiastically.

 

With the amount of angry outburst Lev has been on the receiving end on, Kyoutani never thought he’d be enthusiastic to be in his presence at all. _Is he fucking stupid?_

 

“Uh-“ Kyoutani quirked an eyebrow, but was interrupted before he could finish

 

“Come ooon! Come sit down!” Lev moved and patted at one of the seats at the small dining room table.

 

Kyoutani decided to indulge him and moved to sit at the table, although he wasn’t particularly happy to be sitting next to Lev.

 

Kyoutani ate in silence and Lev sort of kept him company. Everything carried on as normal and Kyoutani felt oddly included despite not participating in any of the conversation. At some point between finishing his food and cleaning up his dishes, Hinata stopped him again to introduce him to Kenma and Yachi. Kyoutani just nodded in acknowledgement, looking the two over once before leaving to go shower and then go back to sleep.

 

_Maybe I’ll actually go to class tomorrow._

***

 

Friday was normal. Which was weird. Kyoutani didn’t have a butt load of frustrations boiling inside him, he actually felt pretty calm. He sat through all his lectures for once, and even took some notes. It was so normal that it freaked him the fuck out. Like, when did he become an average working student all of a sudden? Well, it’s only freshman year, plenty of room for change, but still what?

 

He hadn’t bumped into anyone from his usual friend group; they were probably all ditching, seeing as it was a Friday and the Halloween party was tonight. He briefly thought of the shrill voices that would be nagging him later for not dressing up but he was willing to bear with that more than being in a stupid costume for the entire night. He had a shift at his part time job before the party, so he was meeting up with every one at the party. Meaning that he wouldn’t be wrestled into wearing a costume last minute before the party.

 

As his day had started, and from until the time of the party, everything went relatively normal, and Kyoutani was feeling pretty good, despite what his outward expression said. It was 8:30pm when he got off his shift at the record store, and he stopped by the apartment to change and eat. In the middle of eating, his roommates came out into the living room and he watched in horror as one awful costume came out after the next.

 

“Are those _really_ your costumes?” Kyoutani couldn’t help but ask.

 

“Um yes? And they’re amazing, right?” Lev, who was literally dressed as a streetlight, gave Kyoutani an expecting look, as if he was definitely going to agree.

 

“No, you’re a fucking streetlight” Kyoutani stood up from his seat momentarily to smack the top of his costume

 

“Don’t do that! It’s delicate…” Lev caressed the top part of his costume.

 

Kyoutani just scoffed and sat back down and went back to eating.

 

“And where’s your costume?” Hinata the hamburger piped up.

 

“This is my costume” Kyoutani deadpanned.

 

Lev erupted with laughter, “Yeah, that’s definitely scary enough”

 

“Shut up”

 

“Well, were heading out, see you at the party!” Hinata exclaimed.

 

Kyoutani honestly never thought he’d have the experience of watching a streetlight, hamburger, and… some kind of fish (?) leave his apartment. He couldn’t really tell what Kageyama was, but it looked like some kind of fish. Kyoutani took his time finishing up his food and cleaning up, not in any particular hurry to get to the party. It was 9:30pm by the time he arrived and the house the party was being hosted at had a good amount of people in it already.

 

Within 10 minutes of walking inside, a beer was already placed in his hands. Kyuotani walked around for a bit, ignoring the few chants of his name that he heard and the blatant death stares from people who he’s probably been a complete dick too at previous parties. He picked a wall to stand near as he sipped on his beer, surveying everyone at the party and silently judging them on their costumes. Not to long after, Kyoutani could hear a familiar voice calling out to him.

 

“Kyo-chan! Found you!” Miyuki called out, but soon after seeing him her smile dropped. “Where’s your costume?!”

 

Kyoutani looked over at her and saw she was dressed as some slutty bumblebee. _Seriously, what’s the appeal of a bee? A fucking bee_? _Who’d fuck a bee?_

 

“I said I wasn’t dressing up”

 

“That’s no fun…” Miyuki pouted.

 

Kyoutani shrugged and finished off the rest of his beer, placing the empty bottle on the nearest surface.

 

“As penalty, you need to do 6 tequila shots” One of his friends, who was dressed as Mario, suggested.

 

Everyone just loudly “wooed” in favor of the penalty. They moved more towards the center of the room and set up the shots on the table that was already littered with other empty cups and bottles. A small crowd had gathered around, small cheers erupting here and there. A challenging smirk appeared on Kyoutani’s face before he started to down all the shots. Everyone hollered and Kyoutani just brushed it off as if he hadn’t just downed 6 shots. This set off the drinking challenges for the rest of the night, and Kyoutani knew that he was going to get way drunker than he had planned.

 

 

By 11:30 Kyoutani wouldn’t admit that he was smashed but it was obvious to everyone around him that he was smashed. He didn’t really have much idea of what he was doing and he probably looked like an idiot roaming around the party, making unnecessary noise, but he didn’t care. He moved to the kitchen, rummaging through… whose house was this again? Well, he was rummaging through what’s-their-name’s fridge and took out some cold cuts, not bothering to make a sandwich and just eating them plain. Not many people were in the kitchen and it was noticeably quieter. In this moment, Kyoutani realized how fucking drunk he was. It was quiet enough for him to actually think and process and _holy shit wow my arms feel weird_. Kyoutani focused on not being drunk as he snacked on the cold cuts, having a staring contest with the kitchen cupboard. There were a few other people in the kitchen that weren’t paying him any attention. There was a couple making out in one corner, and then just a few other people scattered around getting more drinks and water and what not.

 

After a couple minutes of focusing on the concept of being sober and staring at a cupboard, Kyoutani felt a tug at his sleeve. He let out an involuntarily grunt at being interrupted from his invigorating staring contest and looked over at whoever was planning to bother him.

 

“Hey Kyo-chan~” Miyuki slurred.

 

_Oh. It’s the weird bee._

“H- _hey_ ~, could I talk to you in private?” Miyuki leaned more onto Kyoutani’s arm, and then leaned back a bit to tug on him.

 

“Why can’t we just talk here?” Kyoutani didn’t really feel like moving. He was content in the weird blissful world he had created with the kitchen cupboards.

 

“Noooo” Miyuki whined, “We can’t, c’ _mon_ ” She started to tug hard on Kyoutani’s sleeve, trying to lead him out of the kitchen.

 

Kyoutani put the cold cuts down and huffed in annoyance. He let himself be dragged out of the kitchen and down one of the hallways. _What does this bee even wanna talk about? Bees can’t even talk, what the fuck is this?_

 

Miyuki opened one of the room doors and pulled Kyoutani inside, and then backed him up into the door after it shut.

 

“Um, so what it is?” Kyoutani starred down at her.

 

“Wow, someone’s clueless” Miyuki giggled and ran her hands up Kyoutani’s chest, “I never noticed that you were so muscular, Kyo-chan”

 

She leaned up to suck on Kyoutani’s neck and he pushed her back.

 

“Stop touching me it’s fuckin gross” Kyoutani growled.

 

“ _Gross_? What the fuck?” Miyuki scoffed and then moved her hand to grab at Kyoutani’s crotch. “Are you fucking gay?”

 

Kyoutani lost it at the sudden touch and wasn’t sure what happened but next thing he knew Miyuki was on the floor covering her head; he must have head-butted her without thinking. He didn’t want to deal or think too much about what had just happened so he left. He made his way back to the kitchen and grabbed his untouched cold cuts and moved to go to what he assumed was the backyard. Luckily, he had assumed correctly. Hardly anyone was in the backyard, a person or two probably trying to get away from the noise, but that was it. Kyoutani sat on the cold grass and looked at the night sky as he finished up the lovely thin sliced pieces of heaven.

 

Once he finished his food he lost the will to sit up and flopped down onto the grass. Kyoutani laid there for who knows how long, and he completely forgot that he was at a party and was not far off from falling asleep right there despite it being way too cold for comfort. Soon enough, he vaguely heard the sound of footsteps approaching him. He kept his eyes forward, continuing to stare up at the sky and ignoring whoever it was.

 

“Hey, asshole!” A voice called out.

 

Kyoutani grunted, knowing the call was directed at him but he didn’t want to acknowledge it. He could hear them walk closer and saw them come into view. It was one of the idiots from his friend group and Kyoutani just grunted at him in acknowledgement. In response he kicked Kyoutani in the side.

 

“Ow! What the fuck?!” Kyoutani could feel his blood start to boil and moved to stand up.

 

“Did you fucking _headbutt_ Miyuki?” His friend, who he has drunkenly identified to be Jin, hissed.

 

“Probably, so what?” Kyoutani growled.

 

“What do you mean so what? What’s wrong with you?! Her forehead is fucking bruised! You don’t just hit a girl like that” Jin shoved Kyoutani back.

 

“Don’t fucking push me, and why should it matter that she’s a girl” Kyoutani smacked at Jin’s hands and he could feel his patient lessen with each word that was spoken.

 

“You’re a dick” Jin stated

 

“Wow you’re just realizing that now? You’re stupider than I thought” Kyoutani scoffed.

 

“What reason did you have to even do that to her?” The anger in Jin’s voice started to become more present.

 

“She fucking started touching me and it pissed me off, okay? I don’t appreciate my dick randomly being groped at” Kyoutani admitted.

 

“That’s why? ‘Cause she fucking touched your dick?! You should be feeling lucky for someone that hot to be coming on to you what’s you’re pro-“ The rest of Jin’s sentence was interrupted by Kyoutani’s fist.

 

“SHUT THE FUCK UP” Kyoutani yelled, throwing another punch at Jin’s face, causing him to fall on the ground.

 

He was too fed up with dealing with the shit his ‘friends’ said. He was drunk enough to not care about trying to maintain the shitty relationship he had built with these people. He shouldn’t have to hear his friends say stupid shit like that to him. Why couldn’t they just accept the fact that being touched like that made him uncomfortable? Why should he feel _lucky_ of all things? Sure he overreacted by head-butting her, but it was the first reflex his body had in response to being touched like that. Just because she was good looking didn’t mean he wanted to fuck her. Why should he be expected to do that when the chance arrives? _It’s not fucking fair._

 

Kyoutani watched as Jin picked himself up from the ground, blood starting to ooze out of his nose. He noticed a couple of his other ‘friends’, including Miyuki, come out into the yard and walk over to Jin.

 

“What the fuck are you doing Kyoutani?!” The dude dressed as Mario spoke up, walking closer to Kyoutani.

 

“I fucking punched him. Was it really not that obvious? You fuckin’ dumb Mario?” Kyoutani chuckled.

 

“You have some serious problems Kyo-chan!” Miyuki yelled.

 

“Oh my god, can you quit it with that god awful nickname? It makes my skin crawl every time you say it in that shrill voice of yours. And don’t you all go acting like you’re such great people either. You’re all probably the shittiest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting and it takes every fiber in my body not to punch y’all on a daily! But wow, look it now! I just don’t give a flying fuck anymore and you can all go fuck yourselves because I can’t stand being in your presence any longer!” Kyoutani laughed at the looks he received and ‘Dumbass-Mario’ rushed over to him, punching him in the face.

 

Kyoutani doesn’t really know how many punches he took or how many he threw, but both parties looked like shit in his opinion. Well, he didn’t know what he looked like but he felt like shit so that was enough of a validation. The only thing Kyoutani was 100% certain of was that he’d gone back to having zero friends. Although, it didn’t really feel like he had friends to begin with so he didn’t really feel like there was that much of a loss there.

 

Jin, Miyuki, and the others had left and Kyoutani continued to sit in the desolate backyard. He didn’t want to be at the party anymore yet he didn’t feel like going home. He looked around the backyard and saw that the fight had caused the few people that were there before to disappear. Except for one. He spotted what looked like an extremely frightened sunflower sitting on the steps of the back porch. He walked closer to the sunflower, the small thing frantically shifting its eyes from one side to another as if saying “oh wowee, I saw nothing, what fight, haha such a lovely night”. As he got closer he noticed that the sunflower looked oddly familiar. _Wasn’t this one of Hinata’s friends? Ya…Ya.. I don’t fuckin remember._

 

As Kyoutani stood in front of Yachi, trying to fully process her identity, Yachi’s head was filled with panicked thoughts.

_Oh gosh, his face is all bruised and covered in blood! AND HIS KNUCKLES JESUS! Oh god, Yachi you should run, why are you sitting here, oh god he’s so close I’m going to actually die this is it this is the end, Hinata’s scary roommate is going to rip my guts out and I’ll be so dead like beyond dead I’ll probably die twice-_

Kyoutani moved to sit next to her, the movement startling Yachi out of her thoughts.

 

“Yo” Kyoutani said, groggily.

 

“H-Hi!” Yachi stuttered out nervously.

 

They sat quietly for a couple minutes until Yachi got the courage to speak up again.

 

“R-Rough night?”

 

“…Yeah”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Small glimpse of IwaOi in this chapter huhuhu~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> per-usual this is shittly self-edited so beware of errors!!

      Yachi wanted to stab herself with the amount of awkward silences that were going on between the two of them. Why was he sitting next to her to begin with? Did he recognize her as Hinata’s friend so he just wanted to? Why would he put both of them in this painfully awkward situation? The more Yachi thought about the reason as to why he was sitting with her the more obviously panicked she became.

 

“Um, are you okay?” Kyoutani raised an eyebrow, looking more weirded out versus concerned.

 

“Huh? Oh yeah! W-why do you ask? P-plus, I should be asking you that!” Yachi laughed nervously.

 

“No reason, you just look like you're sweating a lot”

 

“O-oh. Well I’m fine! What about you? You’re covered in blood” Yachi practically squeaked out her response and cursed herself for being overly nervous.

 

“I’m not _covered_ in it” Kyoutani narrowed his eyes at her and it got quiet for a bit before he spoke up again. “My body does ache a bit… but other than that I think I’m okay…”

 

“With that fight, it didn’t really look like things were okay” Yachi muttered, voice sounding slightly concerned.

 

Kyoutani grunted in response, causing Yachi to flinch, not thinking that he had heard what she’d said.

 

“I-I didn’t mean that in any offense! A-actually I-I’m genuinely concerned, ya’ know? T-things just didn’t look too good-“

 

“Concerned? How can you be _genuinely concerned_ about me? Last time I checked we don’t fucking know each other” Kyoutani abruptly interrupted her.

 

Another silence dragged on between them, instead this time the air felt thicker. Yachi’s nervousness was starting to be replaced with frustration.

_I was just being nice… and like really? Look at yourself! You’re covered in bruises and dried blood! Anyone would be concerned; it’s normal! I can’t believe how rude he can be at a time like this!_

 

“L-look, wouldn’t anyone be concerned if they saw someone as beat up as you?” Yachi spoke up, trying again to console the grumpy child sitting next to her.

 

“I don’t fucking know, you’re probably the first person to show any type of concern towards me”

 

“O-oh…” Yachi wrung her hands, thinking of what to say.

 

“Yeah” Kyoutani sighed and continued looking forward.

 

For most of the time they’d been talking, he had avoided practically all eye contact. Yachi would glance at him once and then, and the whole time he’d just be staring straight ahead, at some spot in the backyard, not sparing her a glance. Yachi thought that it could just be that he was too drunk to even look at the person he was talking to, or he could just not like eye contact all together, but honestly she couldn’t tell.

 

She didn’t know what to do, if she should just leave or not. She felt uncomfortable just leaving him here like this. Although it was obvious that he was functioning and could probably look after himself, there was just something that kept her from just ignoring him and leaving.

 

“S-so, um, what kind of things do you like to do?” Yachi smiled nervously.

 

“Are you serious?” Kyoutani narrowed his eyes at her.

 

“Y-yes!”

 

Kyoutani laughed at Yachi’s stuttered response, causing her to become a bit confused.

 

“What’s so f-funny?” Yachi tried giving him a stern look.

 

“You trying to make small-talk, that’s what” Kyoutani snorted

 

“S-sorry for trying!” Yachi flailed her arms

 

“No, it’s fine… I appreciate it” Kyoutani continued to chuckle.

 

“It doesn’t sound like you’re appreciating it… sounds more like teasing” Yachi pouted.

 

“No, I really do” Kyoutani waved his hand and slurred his words a bit, alcohol still evidently in his system.

 

Yachi gave him a skeptical look, still unsure if he was being sarcastic or not.

 

“Your face says you still don’t believe me” Kyoutani smirked.

 

“Well, so far you’ve been kind of rude so I can’t tell if this is sarcasm or not” Yachi stated matter-of-factually

 

Kyoutani laughed again at this, and the more he laughed Yachi came to the realization that he didn’t seem all that scary.

 

“You still never answered my question” Yachi went back to pouting.

 

“Sorry… uh what was it again?” Kyoutani calmed himself down from laughing at Yachi and turned to give her his attention.

 

“I asked what kind of things you like to do”

 

“Uh… I’m not really sure” Kyoutani said honestly

 

“Wait, really?”

 

“Yeah… I mean I used to play volleyball but I stopped once entering college… I kinda miss the sport but oh well”

 

“What do you mean 'oh well'? If you liked it then you should start again!” Yachi perked up.

 

“I don’t normally get along with my teammates and I don’t feel like trying to get along with them either, ya know? College is more serious so they probably wouldn’t tolerate my behavior”

 

“Well, if you’re aware of your behavior… um… c-change it?”

 

Kyoutani gave Yachi a look as if she had just said the stupidest thing ever.

 

“Wow, that’s.. that’s so easy and simple, haha why hadn’t _I_ thought of that? Wooow”

 

“Ok, now I can tell that’s sarcasm” Yachi narrowed her eyes at him.

 

“Look, I would change it if I could, but I just don’t know how to get along with others” Kyoutani ignored Yachi’s comment and continued talking.

 

“Well, we’re getting along pretty well right now, if you ask me” Yachi stated.

 

“…You think so?” Kyoutani raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

 

“Yeah” Yachi gave him a smile in return.

 

A few seconds passed and soon after Yachi’s name was being called. The two of them turned around to see the holy trinity of awful costumes standing in the doorway leading onto the porch. Hinata walked closer to see who Yachi was with and jumped back slightly after seeing Kyoutani’s face.

 

“What the heckie happened to your face!” Hinata squawked

 

“God, why do you have to be so loud always” Kyoutani squinted, as if Hinata’s loudness had physically hurt him.

 

“Whoooaaa, seriously what happened dude” Lev chimed in as he approached them.

 

Kageyama stayed relatively close to the door, seeming uninterested but peering over every now and then to see what the commotion was about.

 

“It’s nothing” Kyoutani muttered.

 

“Hey, it’s getting pretty late how about we head home?” Yachi glanced at her phone and then put it back into her sunflower themed bag.

 

Kyoutani wasn’t sure, but it seemed that Yachi was creating a distraction for him so that he wouldn’t have to explain his physical condition, at least for now.

 

“Huh? Really?” Lev pulled out his phone and to look at the time.

 

“Oh man, it’s pass midnight we totally missed the last train!” Lev barked out in a laugh, as if missing the last train was somehow super hilarious, despite it meaning that they don’t really have any means of getting home.

 

“Should we taxi?” Kageyama piped up from where he was standing.

 

“That’s too expensive, idiot!” Hinata called back.

 

“Shut up, dumbass! Splitting a taxi with five people would definitely make it cheaper” Kageyama barked back.

 

“It’s pretty nice out, we could walk?” Yachi proposed.

 

“Nooooo, that’s so looong, and its _cold_ ” Lev whined.

 

“It should only be a thirty-five minute walk, that’s not _too_ bad” Yachi pulled up directions on her phone, looking the route over.

 

Yachi’s apartment was relatively close to theirs, so she would have to go that way anyway, and there was no way in hell she was going to walk alone.

 

“I’m fine with walking!” Hinata piped up, “I bet I could totally beat Kageyama to the apartment”

 

“Like you could!” Kageyama growled.

 

“Guys I won't allow you to race down the streets in those costumes in the middle of the night” Yachi huffed.

 

“Wait, are we really walking?” Lev groaned.

 

“Yes” Yachi and Hinata answered simultaneously.

 

The five of them left the party and made their way back to the apartment. For most of the walk it consisted of Kageyama and Hinata bickering with each other and Lev laughing at them and egging them on further. Yachi and Kyoutani stayed relatively quiet, both content with just following the chaos in silence.

 

Yachi’s apartment was closer than theirs so she broke off and headed towards here apartment complex by herself. The chaos trio offered to walk her to her door but she didn’t want them to bring their noise with them and declined.

 

After saying goodbye to Yachi, the four of them continued home.

 

“Wait… does anyone know the way back to our apartment from Yachi’s? She’s totally been the one directing us up until now” Lev stated.

 

“I know!” Hinata bounced.

 

“Calm down, idiot. It’s fucking passed one in the morning, you’re probably bothering everyone in a 5 mile radius of here” Kageyama smacked at the back of Hinata’s head.

 

“O-oi! I’m totally not!” Hinata moved to hit Kageyama back, but Kyoutani cleared his throat loud enough to gain all of their attention.

 

“How about both of you just shut up” Kyoutani growled, “Hinata, lead the way”

 

“O-okay” Hinata quieted down and turned to walk in the direction of their apartment.

 

It only took about 15 minutes to get to their apartment from Yachi’s, and the minute they got home Kyoutani immediately wanted to take a shower. The dried blood on his knuckles and face were starting to itch and hurt and he just felt dirty.

 

After he showered, Kyoutani got into bed, and despite the stupid drama that happened at the party, he thought the night ended pretty well. He got to punch people and got to talk to someone who wasn’t completely judging him and actually seemed like a genuinely nice person. Sounded like a win-win to him.

 

***

 

Kyoutani’s alarm went off at 10:30am and he cursed to the heavens. He completely had forgotten that he had a shift at 11:30 and he absolutely didn’t want to move his body. He doesn’t know how he thought last night was a ‘win-win’ because right now his body was saying it was a big fat loss. He swatted his hand around, looking for his phone to shut off the blaring alarm. When he looked at his phone he saw a few unread messages from Jin and Miyuki, but he decided to ignore them for as long as he could.

 

He shifted in bed and tried to get out, but with every movement his body ached. He didn’t realize how beaten up his body was until now. Gritting through the pain, he got himself out of bed and waddled over to the bathroom to clean up. When he looked into the mirror he saw he that he had multiple bruises on his torso and arms. Part of his face seemed okay, while the left half had a huge bruise around his eye and cheek. He also had a small cut on the bridge of his nose, and when he looked down at his knuckles he saw that they were red and a bit swollen.

 

After brushing his teeth and washing his face, he applied bandages and ointment to the areas that needed it. He got dressed and grabbed his backpack and headed out into the kitchen to grab something to eat before leaving. It took all of Kyoutani’s will power not to groan with every movement he made. He would have been able to deal with just a hangover, but a hangover plus a bruised body was something he has zero tolerance for. His boss probably has zero tolerance for it either. Kyoutani wondered what expression his boss would have after seeing his face. Maybe he’d get sent home for the day and can go back to sleeping. Kyoutani was hoping for the latter but he was most likely going to get chewed out and still have to do his shift.

 

After eating, he headed out and silently cursed the sun for being so god damn bright. Like, who even asked? When Kyoutani arrived at work, he was greeted by one of his coworkers, Iwaizumi.

 

“ ‘Morning, Kyo-“ Iwaizumi paused and stared at Kyoutani

 

“ G’morning” Kyoutani mumbled.

 

“What the fuck happened to you”

 

Kyoutani could tell Iwaizumi was a bit concerned, but he didn’t really feel like explaining himself so he just shrugged in response.

 

“The boss is gonna chew your ass out, you know?” Iwaizumi sighed and gave Kyoutani a sympathetic look.

 

“Yeah, I know” Kyoutani muttered.

 

He moved passed Iwaizumi to go put his stuff down in the staff room and to check in for his shift. And just to be expected, his boss saw him and ‘chewed his ass out’. Kyoutani didn’t come into work with bruises often, but the times that he did this would always happen. He doesn’t understand why the boss feels the need to do this every time. Yes, his face is even scarier when it’s like this, but the customers shouldn’t care. They’re coming into this store to buy CD’s and various music things, not to look at beautiful, grade-A employees.

 

However, Kyoutani did notice how practically all customers avoided getting service from him and he spent most of his shift doing stock and organizing things in the back.

 

When it was time for break, Kyoutani silently blessed the gods and left into the staff room to just… sit. He ate lunch before coming so he didn’t bring any food and he didn’t feel like walking anywhere so he was content with just sitting, and letting his body rest.

 

_Just three and a half hours left and I’m home free._

Iwaizumi walked in shortly after, seeing as today they shared the same break.

 

“You really look beat” Iwaizumi said as he shuffled through his bag, pulling out a sandwich.

 

Kyoutani groaned in response.

 

“So, you wanna explain what happened?” Iwaizumi chuckled and took a bite of his sandwich.

 

Despite never seeing Iwaizumi outside of work, he was probably the only person that Kyoutani actually listened to and didn’t have an urge to punch the face. There wouldn’t be any harm in confiding a bit in Iwaizumi, but the problem was Kyoutani didn’t know how to confide in people. He didn’t really know how to properly put his thoughts and feelings into words with out it turning into threats and growled nonsense.

 

“I don’t know if I can” Kyoutani rubbed a hand over his face, wincing from the pain of his bruises.

 

“Well, if you think you can, I’m all ears” Iwaizumi spoke between bites of his sandwich.

 

After a few seconds of silence, Kyoutani decided to explain the events of last night to Iwaizumi as best as he could. Iwaizumi was a great listener, and waited patiently when it got hard for Kyoutani to remember or explain some parts of what happened or what he was feeling. Kyoutani knew that his explanation was kind of shitty but he summarized everything as best as he could. When he finished, Iwaizumi sat back for a second, thinking over everything that was just explained to him.

 

“It’s probably good you beat the shit out of them and spoke your mind” Iwaizumi spoke up, “I mean, your previous friends sound pretty shitty to me so it’s probably good that you got them out of your life, they don’t seem like the best influence”

 

Kyoutani nodded as Iwaizumi spoke.

 

“…And, that girl you met. Potential new friend? She seemed pretty nice, in your description at least.” Iwaizumi looked at Kyoutani and took another bite out of his sandwich.

 

“Yeah, she friends with my roommates… although besides loud and annoying I don’t really know what type of people my roommates are” Kyoutani admitted.

 

“Maybe you should try befriending them too. You may not like it and get annoyed with them, but just be patient”

 

Kyoutani hummed in response, thinking over Iwaizumi’s advice. They continued to talk idly until they’re break was over.

 

They both clocked back in and headed back onto the floor, both of them working the register for the second half of their shift. The flow of the second shift was pretty mellow, most costumers being teenagers just browsing with no real intent on buying anything. It gave Kyoutani time to just stand around mindlessly, not having to think or interact with anyone.

 

Towards the end of their shift, a familiar yet dreaded face walked into the store and over towards them. Kyoutani’s face noticeably cringed as said person approached him and Iwaizumi.

 

“Iwa-chan~, long time no see!” Oikawa chirped.

 

“We literally saw each other yesterday” Iwaizumi stated.

 

“Oh god, Kyōken what happened to your face!” Oikawa said while noticeably holding back his laughter and ignoring Iwaizumi’s comment.

 

“Shut up” Kyoutani growled.

 

“That’s not a proper response~” Oikawa teased

 

“Oikawa leave him alone, he had a rough night” Iwaizumi chimed in.

 

“Yeah, I could tell by his appearance, Iwa-chan” Oikawa stuck his tongue out at Iwaizumi and he rolled his eyes.

 

Kyoutani just glared at Oikawa and remained silent, not feeling the need to give Oikawa any response.

 

“Iwa-chan, when do you get off?” Oikawa leaned his body over the front of the counter as he spoke.

 

“In thirty minutes” Iwaizumi leaned back a bit as Oikawa leaned forward, into his space.

 

“What? I thought it was sooner than that” Oikawa whined.

 

“And it matters because?” Iwaizumi quirked an eyebrow

 

“ ‘Cause I was gonna take you on a dinner date after this” Oikawa stated.

 

“Uh, what?” Iwaizumi looked a bit dumbfounded.

 

“A _date_ , do I have to shout it to the world?”

 

“No, please don’t” Iwaizumi rubbed his face with his hand.

 

Kyoutani’s expression grew more confused as he watched the two.

 

“Okay, well, I’ll wait for you at the café across the street” Oikawa leaned more into Iwaizumi’s space and gave a quick kiss to his cheek before moving off of the counter.

 

“See you in thirty!” Oikawa waved his arm as he exited the shop.

 

“Um” Kyoutani cleared his throat, noticing the slight blush on Iwaizumi’s cheeks.

 

“Don’t say anything”

 

“…Okay”

 

***

 

Kyoutani got home at around 6:30 and felt absolutely no will to do any homework what so ever. All of his roommates were gathered in the living room, and that pudding hair kid was also with them. Kyoutani couldn’t remember his name and didn’t feel the need to. They were all playing some game that was too loud for Kyoutani’s tired mind.

 

He dropped his backpack off in his room and returned to the kitchen to look for something to eat.

 

“Hey, Kyoutani!” Lev called out.

 

Kyoutani turned to give him his attention.

 

“We were thinking of ordering pizza soon, do you want some?”

 

“Um, sure”

 

Kyoutani could tell he sounded a bit awkward in his reply. Despite being roommates for about half a year now they never got take out together or had meals together. Kyoutani always isolated himself from the rest of them, thinking it was too much trouble to try and get along with them since the annoyed him endlessly.

 

“Sweet!”

 

“Oh, do you want to join us?” This time Hinata called out.

 

Kyoutani was going to say no, but he remembered the advice Iwaizumi gave him and changed his mind. If he was going to make an effort to try and get to know his roommates better, now was a good time.

 

“Sure… what are you guys doing” Kyoutani walked over to the couch, taking a seat on the floor.

 

“We’re playing smash brothers! Although no one has been able to beat Kenma yet” Hinata looked overly excited.

 

“Yeah, Kageyama’s a sore loser and tapped out so you can take his controller” Lev pointed over at a pouting Kageyama.

 

“I’m not a sore loser!” Kageyama called out.

 

“That’s something a sore loser would say” Lev stated.

 

“I just stopped ‘cause I got bored” Kageyama crossed his arms defiantly.

 

“ _Sure_ you did” Lev reached over and grabbed Kageyama’s controller and handed it to Kyoutani, “Anyway, you can join in next match.”

 

Kyoutani looked at the controller then over at the TV screen.

 

“Um, I haven’t played this in forever, so I don’t really…” Kyoutani mumbled

 

“It’s fine! Kenma can teach you the basics!” Hinata chirped.

 

“Hinata…” Kenma gave Hinata a look saying he _really_ didn’t want to do that.

 

“It’s fine Kenma, Kyoutani’s a nice guy”

 

Kenma turned to look at Kyoutani and just nodded his head. Kyoutani nodded back.

 

While they played, Kageyama was put in charge of ordering the pizzas. They stopped playing when the pizza came, deciding to watch a horrible movie instead. Kyoutani didn’t watch movies that often, he never really found the patience to sit through an entire one.

 

The movie was picked by Lev and it was called “Yakuza Apocalypse”, and it was probably the weirdest thing that Kyoutani has ever seen, besides Oikawa’s face. He found himself laughing at certain scenes, just from the sheer ridiculousness of it all.

 

The five of them stayed up fairly late, Kenma leaving at around eleven so that he wouldn’t miss the last train home. Despite it still being a bit awkward hanging out with his roommates, Kyoutani was glad that he did. He still didn’t participate in conversation as much with them, since he didn’t really know what to say, and when they got too annoying the best way to stop himself from lashing out was to just be quiet.

 

When Kyoutani got into bed that night he remembered the unread messages on his phone. He opened up his phone and stared at the messages in his inbox before opening them. The contents were probably something shitty, so was there any point in reading them? He turned his phone on silent, deleted the messages, and shoved his phone under his pillow.

 

 _If they have something to say to me, they can just say it to my face_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god i really don't mean to make these chapters so long it just happens!
> 
> Anyway, I plan to try and update once a week, but my prelim. Thesis proposal is due the end of this month so updates might be slower than that. 
> 
> Anywhooo~ please leave comments or thoughts! <3 much appreciated


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yachi's POV!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for poopy editing! probably a lot of mistakes sorryyyy

       Yachi honestly had no idea how she ended up getting Kyoutani’s number in her phone, or how they somehow had a loose routine of texting each other (usually) before going to bed. She guessed that at that time Kyoutani was feeling the most talkative. But still the entire situation baffled her.

 

About a week and a half has passed since the party, and since then Yachi has run into Kyoutani 3 or 4 times since then, mainly when she would visit their apartment. She also noticed that Kyoutani was starting to spend more time out of his room than in it. They didn’t really speak when she’d come over, they would just acknowledge each other’s presence and maybe have small talk. Yachi didn’t really take any offense to that, since it seemed that he was quiet with everyone. But still, she didn’t quite understand how they ended up texting buddies. She kind of understood, in that Hinata created a group chat that included her, Kageyama, Lev, Kenma, Inuoka, and Kyoutani. And Yachi _may_ have been the one to initiate the private text chat between her and Kyoutani, but she was still worried about the fight from the party and wanted to ask how he was without the others getting on his case. However, the texting didn’t stop after that as she thought it would. It wasn’t like they texted _every_ day but it definitely happened more than she thought.

 

_I guess it’s easy for him to talk to me? At least over text…_

 

Yachi continued to turn the thought over in her head, despite being in the middle of a shift at the café she had a part time job at. It’s not like people were coming in right now, a bit of day dreaming is okay, right?

“ _Ahem_ ” Someone cleared their throat to gain Yachi’s attention.

 

“Y-yes! S-sorry! How may I help you?” Yachi perked up, trying to act as if she wasn’t spacing out at all.

 

“Wow you were pretty gone” Yamaguchi chuckled.

 

“Yama! Don’t scare me like that, I thought you were an actual customer” Yachi sighed in relief.

 

“Excuse you, I _am_ an actual customer, how rude” Yamaguchi huffed.

 

“Yes, yes, right you are, so what can I get you? The usual?” Yachi straightened up her posture, trying to look more professional as she spoke.

 

“Yep!” Yamaguchi slid his money across the counter and Yachi put in his order.

 

Yamaguchi took a seat by the counter in front of the baristas. He usually sat at the counter so that him and Yachi could chat, despite her not being on break.

 

“Here’s your cinnamon roll” Yachi reached her hand over to hand Yamaguchi the plate.

 

“One day when you’re reaching over the baristas like that, you’re gonna drop the plate on one of them” Yamaguchi snickered

 

“Shush! My phase of breaking everything I touch is over! Let it die as one of training weeks horrid memories, ok?” Yachi huffed.

 

“I’m pretty sure it lasted longer than just training week”

 

“I’m actively ignoring that comment” Yachi smiled sweetly and turned back to the register.

 

After Yachi helped a few other customers, there was a lull in the flow of people coming in. So, naturally, she sauntered over to the counter so that she could chat with Yamaguchi.

 

Yachi has been friends with Yamaguchi since high school and harbored a terrible crush for him back. But, she got over it, and is fine with just being friends. In fact, she’s happier now with the decision of not confessing and staying friends. Besides Hinata, Yamaguchi is probably the only other person who she confides in the most. She’s always really glad to have him as a friend, especially when Hinata gets to be too much and she can’t understand the sounds he makes when trying to give advice.

 

“You’ve been a bit more spacey today than usual, what’s up?” Yamaguchi asked before taking a bit out of his cinnamon roll.

 

“I made a new friend? I think? It’s weird and if you saw us we really don’t look like the type of people who would talk to each other… ever” Yachi sighed.

 

“Oh? What’s he like?” Yamaguchi took a sip of his chai tea latte.

 

“Intimidating, a bit scary, pretty sure he growls more than actually speaking words…”

 

“Are you telling me that you became friends with some stray dog or?” Yamaguchi quirked an eyebrow.

 

“N-no! He’s a _person_ , god. He goes to our college too” Yachi huffed.

 

“Really? What’s his name?”

 

“Kyoutani”

 

Yamaguchi put his drink down and stared at Yachi silently for a second.

 

“Kyoutani?” Yamaguchi said back to Yachi.

 

“Yeah, Kyoutani Kentarou”

 

“You’re shitting me. You? Became friends with him?” Yamaguchi’s mouth hung slightly open as he continued to process this information.

 

“Y-yeah, so what? I mean I don’t really know what we are? Friends, close acquaintances, it’s unclear. He lives with Hinata and Co. so I see him a lot when I’m there, but we don’t really talk… we do text though” Yachi murmured the last part of her sentence, but it looked like Yamaguchi caught on, seeing as how his eyes got larger.

 

“Text? You guys text each other? You have his number?” Yamaguchi gaped.

 

“Oh my god, friends text all the time, why is it so weird that it’s him?” Yachi gave him an annoyed look.

 

“Well it’s _Kyoutani_. Have you not heard anything about the guy? Didn’t he like brawl with his friends at that Halloween party? And besides that, he’s gotten into some bad situations from basically the start of the semester onward”

 

“I-I know, but he really isn’t that bad of a guy! Have you ever thought that it was the people around him that were influencing him? I don’t think he’s had a real friend, like, ever! And that’s totally what he needs!” Yachi almost exclaimed at Yamaguchi.

 

For some reason she felt the intense need to stick up for him, because he really wasn’t as bad as the rumors made him out to be. Sure, he seemed to have quite the temper but seeing him be around the rest of his roommates, it seemed like he was able to contain it for the most part. Also, after the party Yachi hasn’t seen him or heard of him touching alcohol or any other substances and that made her happy. She’d like to think that them becoming friends had partly influenced those choices.

 

“Yachi… do you _like_ him” Yamaguchi snickered.

 

“Shut up, no I don’t. I just, get weird over-protective mother feels when it comes to him”

 

“Motherly instincts?” Yamaguchi chuckled, “You have one, pretty rapid child then”

 

“My son isn’t rapid” Yachi puffed out her cheeks in frustration.

 

“You’re son!?” Yamaguchi burst out laughing, leaning back to clutch his stomach.

 

Yachi didn’t say anything and just glared at Yamaguchi as a soft blush dusted her cheeks.

 

“Oh my god, Yachi, you’re calling him your son, I can’t” Yamaguchi wheezed.

 

The door to the café opened, and Yachi moved back to the register, but kept glancing over at Yamaguchi now and then just to glare at him.

 

The rest of the time Yamaguchi was there he jabbed at Yachi for calling Kyoutani her son, until Yachi couldn’t handle the weird looks her co-workers were giving her and shooed Yamaguchi out of the café once he was done.

 

When Yachi’s shift ended she checked her phone and saw that everyone in the group chat was planning to go see some horror movie that’s coming out next week. Yachi wasn’t a fan of horror movies, but since it looked like everyone was going she didn’t think it’d be that bad. She was slightly surprised to see that Kyoutani was also going, but with seeing how he recently has been more involved with his roommates it made sense.

 

_Speaking of which, I haven’t texted him in the passed two days… he mentioned something about his old ‘friends’ before I wonder how that went…_

Yachi opened up a message to Kyoutani and began to type as she made her way to the train station to head home.

 

**Yachi [4:00pm]:** hey! long time no talk

 

**Kyoutani [4:15pm]:** um ok

 

**Yachi [4:17pm]:** wow what a greeting. anyway! I remembered that u said ur old friends texted u a bunch after the party but u never elaborated, did anything happen?

 

This time the response came a bit later than expected. Yachi’s train arrived and she boarded, still feeling no vibration from her phone signaling that she got a message. Her apartment was only one top away from where she worked and she expected to get a response by the time she arrived, but still, nothing. On the walk from the train station to her apartment, her phone vibrated signaling that she got a new message.

 

**Kyoutani [4:32pm]:** yeah… they thought there was some drunken misunderstanding and wanted to try and make up but I never replied and am continuing to ignore them because they don’t deserve my time

 

**Yachi [4:35pm]:** oh, have they confronted u at school?

 

**Kyoutani [4:40pm]:** no they’re probably too scared to… and I don’t blame them I probably wouldn’t be able to control the urge to punch them again

 

**Yachi [4:41pm]:** learn to control ur fists pls

 

**Kyoutani [4:41pm]:** no

**Yachi [4:42pm]:** omgosh kyoutani pls

 

**Kyoutani [4:43pm]:** no

 

Yachi couldn’t help but laugh at Kyoutani’s response, and her laughter made it harder for her to open the door to her apartment. Once inside so toed off her shoes and dropped her bag on the floor and flopped onto the couch.

 

**Kyoutani [4:50pm]:** are u saying I should make amends with them then?

 

**Yachi [4:51pm]:** what no, keep ignoring them they seemed like stinky losers anyway. just don’t get fisty if u happen to bump into them

 

**Kyoutani [4:53pm]:** stinky losers? ur so good at smack talking holy shit

 

**Kyoutani [4:53pm]:** I can’t make any promises about ‘getting fisty’ tho

 

**Yachi [4:55pm]:** well if u get fisty just make sure u don't get arrested or something ok?

 

**Kyoutani [4:56pm]:** only if u stop using the word ‘fisty’

 

**Yachi [4:56pm]:** what why

 

**Kyoutani [4:57pm]:** it sounds fuckin stupid that's why

 

Yachi pouted at her phone before replying

 

**Yachi [4:59pm]:** fiiiiine

 

She continued to text him idly as she got up from the couch to make herself some food and maybe get started on some homework. The texts died down by the time she finished her food and got started on her homework. She wondered what Kyoutani’s routine was like. Did he even do homework? Does he have a part time job? What does he do in his free time? The last time she made a new friend was when she met Hinata during new student orientation at the beginning of the semester, and after that all the people she became friends with in college was thanks to him. Even now, if she hadn’t known Hinata she probably would have never became friends with Kyoutani. Although she didn’t know if Kyoutani considered her as a friend, she hoped he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this update is a bit late but the last couple weeks have been kind of crazy and my head hurts and i think im getting sick ew!
> 
> This chapter is a shorter than the first 2 but i'm thinking of starting to write shorter chapters so I can update faster ? hopefully? (if people are still reading this lol)
> 
> anyway, Please leave comments or thoughts! <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for typos 
> 
>  
> 
> :^)

     Things were calm, and it was weird. Punching the shit out of his old friends was probably one of the best drunken decisions that Kyoutani has ever made, and the fact that they were too scared to confront him in person was even better! In any other circumstance he probably would have gotten even more bitter and lonely after this, but since he actually listened to Iwaizumi’s advice and put some effort into his relationship with his roommates, Kyoutani hasn’t really felt all that lonely. Sure, he still doesn’t get a lot of the inside jokes between his roommates and what not and it gives him a weird hollow feeling sometimes that maybe he’s missed out on a little too much, but he’s been okay with dealing with that. And then there was also Yachi, who basically got him started on this whole ‘making pretty decent friends’ thing.

 

Kyoutani rolled out of bed, not really wanting to get up and go to class but recently Yachi has been nagging him over text to start regularly attending. It was Wednesday and he only had class from 10am to 2:30pm, so it wasn’t too dreadful. His first class of the day was a freshman seminar class, and there was about 100 students in the class so he doubted that attendance mattered. But, he guessed that if he wanted to do _decent_ on the tests he might as well show his face once in a while.

 

Despite getting up (relatively) on time, Kyoutani still found himself rushing to class, getting to the lecture hall five minutes late. When he got into the room he found the first open seat and took it, not giving any thought of whom he was sitting next to.

 

About ten minutes into the lecture, a weirdly familiar voice next to him spoke up.

 

“What are you doing?” The voice hissed out in a whisper.

 

Kyoutani turned to look at the person, his facial expression being obviously confused, because he was in class, taking notes, there was absolutely nothing odd about any of that.

 

When Kyoutani eyes caught that of the other persons, his eyes widened slightly. He hadn’t even noticed that the seat he had chosen happened to be right next to Jin.

 

Kyoutani turned back to facing the front of the class and just grunted in response.

 

“Couldn’t you have sat somewhere else?” Jin mumbled.

 

“Stop whining, it was the first open seat I could find” Kyoutani grumbled in response.

 

They didn’t speak for the rest of the lecture and Kyoutani preferred it that way. Although, he couldn’t really stand the weirdly stiff atmosphere; it made him want to just grab his stuff and leave mid-lecture. Since Jin and the others usually skipped class so often, Kyoutani completely forgot that he actually had class with some of them and didn’t even think of the chance of bumping into him. It wasn’t that he was actively avoiding them, he just strongly preferred not being in close proximity of any of them.

 

After the lecture ended, Kyoutani packed up his stuff quietly, thinking that they were just going to go with ignoring each other for probably the rest of forever. At least that was what he was hoping until Jin opened his mouth.

 

“Um, are you free after this?”

 

Kyoutani looked at him as if he had grown two heads and then realized that his silence wasn’t exactly a response.

 

“No”

 

“That was a pretty long pause, I’m pretty sure you’re free” Jin gave him a skeptical look.

 

“Or, I’m not free. Which is true. So bye”

 

Kyoutani picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder, turning to leave the lecture hall. He noticed that Jin was following him and it started to tick him off. When they were out of the academic building, he hoped it would stop, but he could still hear Jin’s annoying whistling and just _knew_ he was following him. Kyoutani abruptly turned around to face him, face showing the slight anger he felt.

 

“What do you _want_ ” He growled.

 

“Can’t we just talk?” Jin said innocently

 

“I’m positive I’ve already said everything I wanted to say to you guys, so no”

 

“But you were drunk, and it was all probably some misunderstanding! Miyuki still kind of has a weird crush on you, and I personally don’t want to talk to you either, but-“

 

“If you don’t want to talk to me, then don’t talk to me.” Kyoutani crudely interrupted.

 

“I’m just doing this for Miyu-“

 

“ _Don’t_. I’m not interested in her, or anyone, so leave me alone.” Kyoutani’s glare sharpened and Jin just nodded in response, choosing the better route of just leaving.

 

Kyoutani sighed as he watched him walk away, and then turned back around to head towards the on-campus café. He had about fifteen minutes until his next class and having coffee beforehand was a necessity.

 

When he entered the café, he saw Yachi sharing a table with some dark haired girl who wore glasses. Yachi’s face had a lasting pink tint to it and she looked endlessly nervous. Kyoutani chuckled to himself and got his coffee to go, not wanting to interrupt whatever, probably incredibly awkward, talk she was having.

 

The rest of Kyoutani’s classes went by somewhat quickly, and as he was leaving his last class he felt his phone vibrate and saw a new messages from Yachi.

 

 **Yachi [2:31pm]:** hey! how was ur day?

 

 **Kyoutani [2:32pm]:** normal, just got out of class

 

 **Kyoutani [2:32pm]:** also ran into one of the friends i fought with in class

 

 **Yachi [2:34pm]:** oh no!!!!! how’d that go? are u ok??

 

 **Kyoutani [2:35pm]:** what of course im ok idiot

 

 **Kyoutani [2:35pm]:** we didn’t really talk much it was awkward but whatever

 

 **Yachi [2:40pm]:** good! I mean not good that it was awkward cuz awkward things are awful, but yeah, good!

 

 **Kyoutani [2:42pm]:** speaking of awkward, I saw u in the campus café talking to some girl and u looked sweaty and nervous

 

 **Yachi [2:45pm]:** OMG WAS I REALLY THAT NOTICABLY SWEATY OMYGOD

 

 **Kyoutani [2:47pm]:** ye

 

 **Yachi [2:50pm]:** NO UR LYING

 

 **Kyoutani [2:52pm]:** y would I lie ever in my life

 

 **Yachi [3:00pm]:** AAAAAAAAAAH

 

 **Kyoutani [3:00pm]:** fukin chill pls

 

 **Yachi [3:03pm]:** I CANT! omg she probably thinks im smelly and gross! this is so bad I can never face her again ever in my life

 

 **Kyoutani [3:04pm]:** um

 

 **Yachi [3:07pm]:** u saw her righT?! LIKE GOD! She’s so gorgeous and im trying to be her friend since we have to same graphic design class and like goasdjgkfad she’s tooo pretty and nice and she probably thinks im a weirdo tho and I already cant NOT blush when im aroud her like U FREEAKIN SAW HER RIGHT????? kyoutani I think im dyin g im ded

 

 **Kyoutani [3:10pm]:** jesus please never rant at me again ever

 

 **Yachi [3:11pm]:** sorry but like listen… she’s the goddess

 

 **Kyoutani [3:11pm]:** the goddess?

 

 **Yachi [3:12pm]:** yes

 

 **Kyoutani [3:13pm]:** um ok

 

 **Yachi [3:15pm]:** yeah

 

 **Yachi [3:20pm]:** …….i think i have a crush on her dnt tell anyone pleASE

 

 **Kyoutani [3:23pm]:** …..lol

 

 **Yachi [3:25pm]:** RUDE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow sorry this took so long! i had major writers block (and still kinda do) and this feels a lot like a filler chapter but i honestly have zero idea where im going with this and am just winging it and really just writing whatever i find fun lol 
> 
> (sorry this is so short too)
> 
> it's also close to the end of the semester and im dying so i havent had time to really focus on this and im sorry if each chapter ends up turning out shittier and shittier 
> 
> Please leave comments & thoughts! 
> 
> <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> horror movies are always fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woo! pumped this one out in a relatively timely fashion!
> 
> sorry for typos and the like

      It was Friday, late afternoon, and Kyoutani was currently leaning on the counter at work, trying not to unintentionally glare at every costumer that walked in. Later that night, his roommates had planned to all go out to watch some new horror movie. Kyoutani could care less, but he was tagging along anyway. Plus, Yachi wanted as many people as possible to come so that it would be less scary. He didn’t really understand how that was supposed to work, seeing as she would have to get home herself anyway.

 

Kyoutani fiddled with a torn receipt that lay lifelessly on the counter. As he looked at this sad, lifeless paper, he started to think about how drastically his life has changed in such a short amount of time. Drastic probably wasn’t the right word since not much has happened, but the change of pace had definitely been drastic. He was starting to get used to the fast pace of skipping class, sneaking into clubs, avoiding police while roaming the streets at night as if him and his ‘friends’ had owned them. Sure it had been fun, and at moments he’d even felt invincible, but those feelings only lasted in the moment and the following day always felt like complete hell. And depending on whatever he had ingested the night before, he usually ended up feeling like rotting garbage and wouldn’t want to move from his bed for the next 80 years.

 

But now that his pace has increasingly slowed down, and has been relatively sober most of the time, his mind has felt way clearer than it has ever been before. Well, when he used to play volleyball he always used that as a means to be able to keep a clear head, despite his temper tantrums, but Kyoutani didn’t often dwell on the days of when he played volleyball. There was always something weird about recalling those days. As if he had given up on something that _could_ have been great, or _could_ have become something more in his life, but whenever he focuses on the _could have’s_ he felt as if something was filling his chest and making it heavy. So, he decided all together not think about that stuff, or limit his thinking time to about 1 minute, and then never think about those gross feelings ever again, ever. Because bottling it up and pretending not to care is the best option always.

 

“Kyoutani”

 

The stern voice yanked him out of his thoughts, causing him to completely destroy the sad receipt. Kyoutani frowned slightly at his fallen friend and threw the lifeless scraps into the trashcan that sat on the ground under the register counter.

 

“Yes?” Kyoutani looked back up at Iwaizumi.

 

“Don’t space out too much during your shift, ok? I called your name like five times. I know not many people are coming in right now, but just stay sharp” Iwaizumi haphazardly warned.

 

Kyoutani made a sound of acknowledge, straightened his stance, and awkwardly clenched his hands at his side, not really knowing what to do with them… or his face. He didn’t really know how to look as if he was being diligent.

 

“Also, I can tell your face has healed up, but were there any other bruises from that time you had that fight?”

 

“Uh, yeah, there were but everything’s practically healed now”

 

“That’s good, you also haven’t been growling at costumers as much lately so I’ll assume things are going well” Iwaizumi teased.

 

“I don’t _growl_ at them…” Kyoutani mumbled, awkwardly shuffling his feet.

 

***

 

 **Hinata [6:30pm]:** Kyoutani!!! when do u get bck from work????? we wanna head out soon to eat before the movieee

 

 **Kageyama [6:31pm]:** COULDNT U HAV SENT THIS IN A PRIVATE TEXT? WHY DID U HAVE TO SEND IT IN THE GROUP CHAT ITS STUPID

 

 **Lev [6:32pm]:** kageyama did u kno that there’s a way to text not in all caps?

 

 **Kageyama [6:38pm]:** SHUT UP

 

 **Hinata [6:40pm]:** loll he totally didn’t kno thts y it took soo long for him to reply

 

 **Kageyama [6:42pm]:** SHUT UP IM NOT DUMB I TOTALLY KNOW THAT OK SHUT UP HINATA UR THE KING OF IDIOTS

 

 **Hinata [6:44pm]:** y r u so roOD!!

 

The texts went on for way longer than Kyoutani would have liked and in moments like this he absolutely hated the fact that he was a part of this group chat. He sighed and put his phone back in his pocket, not bothering to reply, believing that Hinata’s initial question had been long forgotten.

 

Kyoutani had just checked out and was heading back to the apartment. He wasn’t exactly sure what time the movie was, but fortunately the record store wasn’t too far from the apartment and it would only take him 15 minutes at most to get home.

 

When Kyoutani arrived at the apartment, everyone was inside waiting. Kenma, Inuoka, and Yachi were sitting on the couch, Kageyama and Hinata were wrestling on the floor, and Lev was howling on the side, cheering them on. Kyoutani could feel a slight headache forming, but he didn’t say anything as he entered the noisy apartment.

 

“Kyoutani!” Hinata exclaimed after noticing his presence.

 

“So we can go now right? I’m starving” Lev said as he stood up from where he was sitting on the floor.

 

“Let me just put my stuff away” Kyoutani grumbled as he headed to his room to put his bag down and get his phone and wallet out.

 

After Kyoutani came back into the living room, they all gathered themselves and headed out for dinner. They ended up going to some burger place and Kyoutani thought dinner should only take 30 minutes to an hour, but apparently he underestimated how much his roommates could procrastinate leaving a freaking restaurant.

 

After the fifth or sixth fry that was flung across the table, which hit Lev square in the face, Kyoutani was on the verge of barking at them to stop so they could leave, but Kenma beat him to it.

 

“If one more fry is flung, Hinata, I am confiscating your fries” Kenma, who was usually impartial to eye contact, looked Hinata dead in the eye.

 

“O-ok” Hinata drooped his head slightly and stuffed the rest of his fries in his mouth, looking sort of like an upset hamster.

 

After what felt like forever, they finally left the restaurant and walked to the theater that was only a block away. Kyoutani noticed Yachi got more and more nervous as they approached the theater. When they actually got to the theater and were getting ready to buy their tickets, she looked ready to nope the fuck out of there, face already turning sheet white despite not even having seen the movie yet.

 

“Um, you okay” Kyoutani asked Yachi quietly as they entered the theater to find seats.

 

Lev, Hinata, and Kenma stayed behind to get snacks for everyone.

 

“Do I look okay?” Yachi shot him a small glare that was quickly replaced by her previous nervous expression.

 

“Yeah, you look ready to take on the world” Kyoutani deadpanned.

 

“Oh, shut up” Yachi slapped his arm playfully before walking into the seat aisle.

 

Yachi refused to seat in the aisle seat, so Kyoutani sat there. Yachi sat next to him and Inuoka sat next to her, followed by Kageyama. The others came back shortly, Lev holding two large popcorn buckets and a drink, Hinata carrying an array of sweets, and Kenma had two boxes of milk duds, probably for himself. They all filed into the aisle, and seeing as Hinata sat next to Kageyama, Kyoutani new that watching this movie in relative silence was a thing of the past.

 

Surprisingly, everyone was _relatively_ quiet for majority of the film. Half way through, Kyoutani got bored and took out his phone and was scolded by Yachi shortly after. There wasn’t much talking from Hinata and Kageyama, probably too scared to form words or thoughts. Lev, however, would shout out the occasional dumb or unneeded comment and some other random moviegoer yelled at him from across the theater to shut up. And of course, there were the times were literally all of the screamed at the especially scary parts in the movie. Well, everyone except for Kyoutani and Kenma. Kyoutani wouldn’t say that the film _wasn’t_ scary, but it just wasn’t _that_ scary.

 

Kyoutani would occasionally look over at Yachi, just to make sure she wasn’t literally scared to death by the film, and by no surprise her mouth was wide open in horror for at least 85% of the film and her hands held on tightly to the arm rests on either side of her.

 

When the movie finished they all silently exited, Kenma pulling out his phone basically right after the film ended. Kyoutani couldn’t say anything about that, seeing as he did the same exact thing. It’s not that Kyoutani had people to text, seeing as all the people he would get a text from are with him right now. He just really had to check up on his cats. And yes, Kyoutani was an advent user of neko atsume, and he would take that secret love for the game to his grave.

 

Lev let out a large, over-exasperated sigh when they got outside, followed by a few seconds of silence before Hinata started to jump up and down.

 

“Holy crap! That was amazing!” Hinata exclaimed.

 

“Stop being so loud, idiot!” Kageyama responded, sounding a bit exhausted.

 

Hinata just stuck his tongue out in response.

 

Inuoka and Kenma parted with the rest of the group at the theater, their apartment was closer to this area so they chose to walk home from there. On the other hand, Yachi looked hesitant to go home.

 

“Do you want someone to walk you home” Kyoutani offered

 

“I… yes that would be the best thing ever in the world” Yachi’s voice shivered and Kyoutani could guess that she was going to sleep with all the lights on for probably the next week or two.

 

“Even better than the goddess?” Kyoutani teased.

 

“Shut up!” Yachi yelped and her face went beet red and she quickly covered her face.

 

They all walked to the train station together, and since Yachi’s stop was the same as theirs, they all got off together. As they exited, Kyoutani told the others he was going to walk Yachi home and was left with the parting words, “don’t get killed on your way home!”

 

It was quiet for a bit between the two of them and Yachi fiddled with the hem of her shirt a bit before starting to speak.

 

“Really, thank you for walking me home, it means a lot” Yachi smiled genuinely at Kyoutani

 

“Next time you should invite ‘the goddess’ along and she can walk you home. Maybe even keep you company throughout the night” Kyoutani said monotonously 

 

“Omygod, why did you have to say that I was trying to have a nice friend moment and you just hAD TO” Yachi whined and repeatedly smacked his arm.

 

“You were thinking it”

 

“No I wasn’t! I was thinking of how to barricade myself in my room with stuffed animals and happy thoughts” Yachi huffed.

 

Kyoutani hummed in response and chose not to say anything, too tired to try and continue the conversation. After a few minutes of silence, Yachi spoke up again, voice a bit quieter than before.

 

“Although… her being there _would_ be a huge plus”

 

Kyoutani chuckled and could see Yachi’s apartment complex come into view.

 

“Don’t laugh at me” Yachi protested.

 

“I’m not laughing at you, I’m laughing with you” Kyoutani slowed down his stride as the got to the entrance of the complex. 

 

“But I’m not even laughing! That doesn’t even make sense! You're just being a butt!” Yachi animatedly waved her arms, and then moved to press the button for the elevator.

 

“Shut up and go home” Kyoutani snickered.

 

Yachi pouted and moved to go inside the elevator, and when she turned to wave good-bye she could have _sworn_ she saw what was probably the most genuine smile on Kyoutani’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments or thoughts! Highly appreciated 
> 
> <3


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> someones got a 'date' and Kyoutani is an old man who cant use a phone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poorly edited - sorry for errors!

**Yachi [12:00pm]:** Kyoutani… help… I think I made a mistake

 

 **Yachi [12:00pm]:** Kyoutani pls answer omg im dying

 

 **Yachi [12:05pm]:** KYOUTANI PLESASE

 

 **Kyoutani [12:15pm]:** arent u always dying

 

 **Yachi [12:16pm]:** HE HAS ANSWERED

 

 **Kyoutani [12:17pm]:** im at work what do u want

 

 **Yachi [12:20pm]:** ok so… I may or may not have gotten a date with the goddess™

 

 **Kyoutani [12:21pm]:** congrats

 

 **Yachi [12:22pm]:** wow could be a lil more excited for a homie

 

 **Kyoutani [12:25pm]:** congrats!!!!

 

 **Yachi [12:26pm]:**....anyway, im not 100% sure it’s a date but we have a ‘study date’ together on weds. and were gonna get dinner together after and like that sounds like a date to me

 

 **Kyoutani [12:30pm]:** um ok

 

 **Yachi [12:30pm]:** yeah

 

 **Kyoutani [12:32pm]:** don't get pregnant and die

 

 **Yachi [12:33pm]:** kyoutANI THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS

 

 **Kyoutani [12:35pm]:** lol

 

 **Kyoutani [12:35pm]:** what’s even her name or are we just going to forever refer to her as the goddess

 

 **Kyoutani [12:36pm]:** how did u do that TM thing on the phone

 

 **Yachi [12:37pm]:** her name is Shimizu Kiyoko and the ™ is under the emojis thing

 

 **Kyoutani [12:40pm]:** cool and the what

 

 **Yachi [12:45pm]:** are u telling me that you’ve never used emojis

 

 **Kyoutani [12:46pm]:** …I have no need for them so I just never

 

 **Yachi [12:47pm]:** omg imm laughing so hard rn omfg

 

 **Kyoutani [12:50pm]:** stop laughing its not even funny

 

 **Yachi [1:00pm]:** ok so get the emojis keyboard

 

 **Kyoutani [1:05pm]:** how

 

 **Yachi [1:06pm]:** omfg ill just show u in person next time I see u

 

After idly texting Kyoutani for however long, Yachi flopped her phone down on her bed and tried to stop distracting Kyoutani from his job and tried to refocus on her homework, but the butterflies in her stomach were telling her to grab a pillow and anxiously roll around on her bed. She was more than excited to get to have a ‘study date’ with Kiyoko and she even got her number as a result of this, but when it came to the reality of things Yachi knew she was a stuttering, nervous, sweaty mess when it came to dealing with the dark haired girl.

 

Fortunately, later tonight Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were coming over for movie night and hopefully that would calm Yachi’s nerves momentarily. Texting Kyoutani about it also helped take the edge off things, but this odd mixture of fear and anxious excitement was just too overwhelming for her, like how most things were.

 

Unfortunately, movie night meant that Yachi would have to get her homework done _before_ then. Yachi glared at the alarm clock that sat by her bed and glared at the time. 2:15PM. She had a good four hours to get everything done and if she focused should be able to finish everything that needed to be done. Supposedly.

 

*

A little bit earlier than 6:30, Yachi heard a few knocks at the front door and knew that Yamaguchi and Tsukishima had arrived. When she answered the door she saw that Yamaguchi had brought an inappropriate amount of snacks and Tsukishima was holding a few bags of take-out.

 

Yachi wasn’t particularly close with Tsukishima, but seeing as their mutual friend was Yamaguchi it led to them having a lot of hang outs with the three of them. By now the awkwardness of them being together had completely gone away, but when they first started hanging out in high school, the amount of stiffness and awkwardness that filled the air between Yachi and Tsukishima was suffocating. It got even worse when it became very clear to Yachi that Yamaguchi had some special feelings for the tall blonde. Even to this day, Yachi isn’t sure if Yamaguchi has acted on those feelings and confessed or not, but that was a matter to discuss on another day. Right now, Yachi needed all the distractions from _her feelings_ so that she can try and collect herself and save her anxious breakdown for _after_ the study date with Kiyoko.

 

“Sorry, we got here a bit early, if that’s okay” Yamaguchi toed off his shoes and moved to put the bags of snacks on the coffee table by the couch.

 

“Of course!” Yachi beamed.

 

Tsukishima gave Yachi a curt nod as he entered before taking off his shoes and putting the take-out on the dining room table.

 

The three of them sat down and ate before the movie, Yamaguchi insisting it would be fine to just eat and watch the movie at the same time, but Yachi grew up with the rule of ‘no eating meals on the couch’ and refused to break that rule even now.

 

Yamaguchi and Yachi talked idly over dinner with Tsukishima chiming in every once in a while. When they finished up Tsukishima offered to clean up, which honest-to-god took Yachi by surprise, while Yamaguchi and Yachi set up movie.

 

Tonight’s movie was “Submarine”, picked by Tsukishima who insisted it was good and had a great soundtrack despite the other two never having heard of it. Tsukishima often picked good movies so Yachi took his word for it.

 

Yamaguchi took blankets out of Yachi’s closet, refusing to not be in coziest atmosphere while watching a movie, and the three of them sat quietly, munching on snacks as the movie played. Usually if they talked during the movies, especially the ones Tsukishima picked, Tsukishima would give them harsh warnings, stern looks, and pinches every time they spoke.

 

Throughout the movie, Yachi would occasionally glance at Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, and at about half way through the movie that got a bit cuddlier than they usually were and Yachi had to stop herself from squealing. When the movie ended, Yamaguchi was practically sitting in Tsukishima’s lap and Yachi chose not to comment on it and let them be.

 

As the credits rolled, Yamaguchi shifted and stretched in his spot.

 

“That was really good Tsukki” Yamaguchi said in the middle of a yawn.

 

“Yeah, that’s why I picked it” Tsukishima deadpanned.

 

“Thank you for doing the honors of showing us this splendid movie” Yachi giggled.

 

Tsukishima just huffed in response and got up, probably to go to the bathroom.

 

“So, friendship with Kyoutani still going strong?” Yamaguchi shifted on the couch, moving to sit closer to Yachi.

 

“Yeah! We’ve really gotten close. You should hang out with us some time!”

 

“I’ll pass, I feel like that would be very uncomfortable”

 

“I figured, but when I said ‘us’ I mean like Hinata & Co. as well”

 

“He gets along with them?” Yamaguchi asked, slight shock on his face

 

“Well, they’re his roommates…”

 

“That must be… one interesting living situation” Yamaguchi chuckled.

 

“Yep! And I think he kinda secretly loves it”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow an update that came out relatively quick! This chapter is sort and just kinda random and something I wiped out
> 
> I'm not really sure that I like this chapter but I decided to upload it anyway
> 
> Please leave comments or thoughts!
> 
> <3
> 
> ((ALSO if u guys havent seen the movie Submarine u should! i love it! it was on netflix a couple years ago and idk if it still is but yeah!! it has great music and is just great))


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> angst????

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for typos! and this is very short

        As soon as Kyoutani got back from his part time job, his roommates immediately harassed him. All of them were dressed in sportswear and work out clothes, looking ready to go and do something, and Hinata was practically bouncing off the walls for some reason.

 

“Perfect! If Kyoutani comes we’ll have just the right amount of people!” Hinata exclaimed.

 

“Um, what” Kyoutani toed off his shoes and walked further into the apartment; wanting to make a B-line for his room but never finding an opening to.

 

“Yeah! Sweet, alright go get dressed!” Lev seemingly agreed with whatever Hinata just proposed and gave Kyoutani an expecting look.

 

“I’m sorry, what?” Kyoutani’s tone showed that he was getting annoyed.

 

“We’re gonna go play volleyball” Kageyama stated.

 

“Yep!! Have you played before?” Hinata was practically jumping in place.

 

“Um, well, I played all through middle and high school…” Kyoutani mumbled.

 

“GREAT! Let’s go!” Hinata began to head towards the door, despite Kyoutani not being ready at all.

 

For a second, Kyoutani felt a bit excited, having the opportunity to play volleyball again was perfect, but he couldn’t help that little something inside him from weighing him down.

 

“Um, actually, I’ll pass for today” Kyoutani fidgeted in his spot, trying to inch closer to his room, but Lev was in the way.

 

“Why? Don’t feel good?” Lev inquired, leaning closer to Kyoutani’s face.

 

“Uh, yeah” Kyoutani inched a few steps back, not liking the close proximity.

 

“Nooo” Hinata whined “We _need_ one more person”

 

“It’s fine we can just do three versus two” Kageyama spoke up.

 

“That’s not fair though” Hinata pouted.

 

“If it’s me, I could take you all on” Kageyama gloated

 

“God, you still think like that? You’re an idiot! You can’t do every position by yourself” Hinata huffed.

 

“Fuckin’ watch me!”

 

Kyoutani watched quietly as they continued to bicker, Lev intervening to try and calm them down but would end up just edging them on further. Kyoutani took this as his chance to slip into his room.

Kyoutani dropped his bag and flopped on his bed. He opened his favorite app and gasped when he saw the screen go black and a cat walked on screen to bring him a gift. As he lazed around on his bed he could hear the moment his roommates notice he had disappeared. He heard Lev mention something about it and then heard Kageyama mutter something in response and then the sound of the front door opening and closing.

 

Kyoutani felt a bit bad for not joining, but the minute he started feeling excited about the opportunity to play volleyball again, a second later he felt like a large rock dropped in his stomach and shied away from the opportunity. He just started building a normal, friendly relationship with his roommates and even though going out and playing a sport they all loved together would normally help with bonding, Kyoutani knew how he was when he played. He got vicious and reckless, and there was never really anyone who could keep up with him. Because of his fired up attitude when playing it built walls between him and his teammates. He didn’t want that to happen again, especially not now. He was afraid his temper would get too wild while playing and that that would deter his roommates from wanting to be around him. He was also known for getting a bit physical on court, not afraid to bump or push someone out of the way so that _he_ could spike. He knew he was selfish and stubborn on the court but he didn’t know how to change that, he never had the support from someone to _help_ him change.

 

Kyoutani sighed and dropped his phone, laying his arms over his eyes. It was only 4pm, but he felt about ready to go to bed. Kyoutani continued to lay on his bed, drifting in and out of sleep, until his stomach made the upset growl, signaling that it wanted food in it.

 

In response to his stomach, Kyoutani growled back and rolled over, pushing his face further into his pillow. He didn’t really understand his mood swings, or why he was feeling like such shit in this particular moment, but he also deemed it a good time to ignore his bodily needs and to never get out of bed.

 

His stomach let out another, quieter, growl.

 

_Shut up_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is very short but I didn't really feel the need to make it lengthy and just kinda couldn't think of more to write. I'm also sorry if the next few chapters are a bit short or late, I have to start packing up my room as my study abroad program comes to an end :'(
> 
> I also have a lot of shit to deal with my housemates and landlord when I get back to my home country, as well as a couple job interviews right as i get back so I wont have time to focus on the fic then so sorry if updates start to get reeeeally slow 
> 
> ANYWAY! Hope you liked this short chapter! 
> 
> Please leave comments or thoughts! <3


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iwaizumi coming in clutch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, sorry for errors/typos

    Kyoutani woke up with a headache and aching stomach from having skipped a meal yesterday. His body had the audacity to wake him up at six am and refused to let him go back to sleep. It was Tuesday and he didn't have class until noon. He also realized he hadn’t done any of the homework for said class, so he decided to take care of his still growling stomach and use all of this free time to get some shit done.

 

When the rest of his roommates woke up, they were surprised to not only see Kyoutani up before the rest of them, but doing work as well. Lev was the first one to join Kyoutani in the living area at about 10 am. Kyoutani had already had breakfast and was about to get ready to make some lunch, seeing as he had the time to eat two meals before class.

 

“Whoa… man I was right, you must not be feeling well to be up this early” Lev eyed Kyoutani suspiciously as he spoke.

 

“It’s ten, it’s not _that_ early” Kyoutani retorted.

 

“Yeah, but you’re already like… all dressed and cooking and like have school work shit out. You’ve definitely been up before ten, and that’s early. Especially for you.” Lev leaned on one of the counters and continued to stare at Kyoutani.

 

Kyoutani shrugged in response, not having a real answer, and just continued to sloppily put together the sandwich he was making.

 

Lev huffed and moved around Kyoutani to make himself something to eat. Kyoutani was left in relative peace for the rest of the morning, being glad that Lev never really tried to pry information from him. And even if he did try to pry, Kyoutani didn’t have much of an answer to give.

 

The rest of the morning went quietly and Kyoutani left before Hinata and Kageyama made their way to the kitchen. He only had one class for the day and then headed to work right after.

 

During class, Kyoutani spent more time doodling random shapes all over his notebook instead of actually paying attention. He couldn’t help but mull over what happened yesterday. Usually, he liked to ignore his feelings and just disassociate with whatever weird feelings came up when they did. But this time he couldn’t help but think things over. It wasn’t _that_ big of a deal and he would normally forget about it, but for some reason he just couldn't help but get frustrated over it.

 

Kyoutani must have been making a strange face, because as he left class people walking near him made effort to create more distance and he could see a few people take glances at him. When he got to work, Iwaizumi poked his forehead and told him to “stop looking so constipated”.

 

“I see you’re back to glaring at everything that moves, what happened?” Iwaizumi said as he took a seat across from Kyoutani.

 

Their break had started and they were both lounging around in the staff room.

 

“Just been kind of confused and frustrated lately” Kyoutani mumbled in response

 

“Does it have anything to do with the assholes you were hanging out with before?” Iwaizumi’s tone started to sound like an over-protective brother.

 

“Um, no…”

 

“Then what is it? I’m all ears, man” Iwaizumi sat patiently

 

Kyoutani thought it over in his head a bit. Last time he confided in Iwaizumi it really helped so there should be no harm in doing it again.

 

“My roommates asked me to go play volleyball with them yesterday” Kyoutani started. “And I wanted to play, since it’s been forever and volleyball is something I really like, but… But I’m absolute shit playing on a team, so I just told them I wasn’t feeling well and skipped out on it. I know that I get way too aggressive and I don’t wanna seem… off-putting to my roommates, especially after we’ve started to get along and everything… but I also don’t know how to improve myself, ‘cause practicing alone sure as hell won’t help”

 

“So you just need some help with team work, right?” Iwaizumi stated, looking as if he was thinking something over.

 

“Yeah…”

 

“I know just how to help you” Iwaizumi started, a glimpse of a smirk forming on his face. “Me, Oikawa, and some other friends usually play volleyball every Saturday evening, sometimes on Sundays. Why don’t you join in on one of our games?”

 

Kyoutani grunted, thinking it over. He really didn’t want to see Oikawa’s stupid face when he didn’t have to. But if this was a chance to help improve his teamwork he didn’t want to pass it up. On the other hand, he didn’t want to come off as a selfish stubborn brat on the court, especially not in front of Iwaizumi.

 

“Well?” Iwaizumi looked at him expectantly.

 

“Is… it really okay?” Kyoutani asked quietly.

 

“I wouldn’t have offered if it wasn’t” Iwaizumi chuckled.

 

“O-okay” Kyoutani nodded reluctantly, not entirely sure how all of this was going to go down.

 

“Sweet! We were gonna play on Saturday at around four, is that okay? I can meet you at the station” Iwaizumi stood up, walking towards Kyoutani with his phone out.

 

They exchanged contact info, and Kyoutani nodded his head in response to Iwaizumi’s previous question.

 

“Yeah that should be fine”

 

“Great, now let’s get back to work so that we don’t get yelled at.”

 

*

 

As Kyoutani was leaving work, he saw he had a couple unread messages from Yachi. He pocketed his phone, deciding to just read them on his walk home and continued to gather his stuff from the staff room. He nodded to Iwaizumi on his way out, and felt a bit excited that he was going to get to play volleyball with him this weekend. Prior to today, he didn’t even know that his coworker played the sport.

 

As he exited the store, Kyoutani pulled his phone back out of his pocket and went over the missed messages.

 

 **Yachi [1:00pm]:** Hey I heard from Hinata that you’re not feeling well r u ok?!

 

 **Yachi [1:15pm]:** are u sick? do u need soup or some like saltines??

 

 **Yachi [1:30pm]:** YOU’RE NOT DEAD RIGHT

 

 **Yachi [2:00pm]:** ok I called Hinata and he confirmed u in fact are not dead since they all saw u this morning, but he also said that was weird since you’re never up that early???? are u safe?? my son pls be safe

 

 **Kyoutani [5:30pm]:** jfc chill I’m fine I was in class and then at work

 

 **Kyoutani [5:30pm]:** also did u just call me ur son?

 

 **Yachi [5:31pm]:** KYOUTANI oh thank god

 

 **Kyoutani [5:32pm]:** so ur just gonna ignore that u called me ur son

 

 **Yachi [5:33pm]:** anyway, are u feeling alright?

 

 **Kyoutani [5:35pm]:** yeah I just felt conflicted about playing volleyball with them yesterday since im even more of an asshole when im on the court but my coworker invited me to join him and his friends on Saturday to work on my ‘teamwork’ n shit like that

 

 **Yachi [5:37pm]:** ok first off, that is the longest text I have EVER received from u omg, and secondly, that’s so sweet!!!! I bet ur gonna have so much fun!!!

 

 **Kyoutani [5:40pm]:** ok

 

 **Yachi [5:41pm]:** why u gotta be like that

 

 **Kyoutani [5:44pm]:** isn’t ur date with… what was her name shimizu? Isn’t that tomorrow

 

 **Yachi [5:46pm]:** AH why did u have to bring it up I’ve been trying not to think about it im so nERVOUS

 

 **Kyoutani [5:50pm]:** lol

 

 **Yachi [5:51pm]:** don’t u ‘lol’ me

 

 **Kyoutani [5:55pm]:** god speed

 

 **Yachi [5:56pm]:** ugh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay for slightly longer chapter!! I should be studying and working on essays cuz next week is last week of school and everything is finals hell! HAHAH
> 
> ANYWAY, hope you guys like this update!
> 
> Please leave comments or thoughts!
> 
> <3


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kiyoko and yachi's study date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for typos and errors

     It was Wednesday. The fated Wednesday. The Wednesday that Yachi had a ‘study date’ with Kiyoko, and Yachi was the exact opposite of chill. She did pretty well earlier in the week with blocking out and controlling her nerves. But, as she watched the clock she noticed she only had about fifteen minutes until the wonderful, black-haired goddess would arrive at her apartment.

 

In the meantime, Yachi fidgeted with basically everything. She went around the whole apartment re-organizing everything and when she ran out of things to fix up she would just pace. She got all her books for studying out in the living room and organized them neatly on the coffee table. Her roommate, Yuki, was rarely home, but as she was leaving for work she saw Yachi pacing out her nerves and gave her a silent thumbs up for good luck.

 

Yachi settled for just sitting and waiting on the couch. She had ten minutes until she arrived, so she started to nervously fidget with her phone, sending out a text to Kyoutani in hopes that it’ll help her calm down.

 

 **Yachi [5:35pm]:** Hey!!!

 

 **Kyoutani [5:37pm]:** yo

 

 **Yachi [5:37pm]:** I think im dying pls release me from this mortal form

 

 **Kyoutani [5:40pm]:** ….what

 

 **Yachi [5:40pm]:** oMG CAN U REPLY FASTER I ONLY HAVE 5 MINUTES THIS ISNT HELPING AT ALL

 

 **Kyoutani [5:41pm]:**??????

 

Yachi was about to type out a reply when she heard soft knocks on the front door.

 

_Shit… she’s here early._

Be it that Kiyoko was only about 4 minutes early, Yachi needed those 4 minutes for more mental and emotional preparation.

 

Yachi dropped her phone and made her way to the door, opening to see none other than the gorgeous Shimizu Kiyoko. Yachi had to remind herself not to just stand there and stare but to actually let her into the apartment.

 

“H-hi! Come in” Yachi stuttered and shifted to let Kiyoko inside.

 

Kiyoko smiled softly and nodded as she entered the apartment, toeing off her shoes.

 

“U-um, I was thinking we could study right here, if that’s okay” Yachi nervously gestured to the living room, where her books were already set up.

 

“That should be fine. How about we study for a bit and then head to dinner.” Kiyoko offered.

 

“T-that sounds great!” Yachi almost exclaimed.

 

Yachi mechanically moved towards the coffee table and sat in front of her books. Kiyoko followed after, placing her bag down and taking a seat next to Yachi. The first couple minutes of studying were awkward and tense. At least tense for Yachi. She couldn’t help but over think every little think. She was hyper aware of the small amount of distance between them, the smell of Kiyoko’s perfume, the way she looked when she focused on her homework, it was honestly out of control. The only thing that snapped Yachi back into reality was when Kiyoko asked her a question about the homework. After that single question they began to talk more, aiding each other with the homework and completing half of it before Yachi’s stomach growled loudly.

 

“O-oh sorry” Yachi covered her stomach, slightly embarrassed.

 

“Guess we should take a break and get some dinner” Kiyoko laughed softly.

 

“R-right. Do you want take-out or should we go somewhere?”

 

“Why don’t we go out? I haven’t been to any of the restaurants around here”

 

 _Why don’t we go out._ Yachi knew the question was for food but she couldn’t help repeat the words over and over in her head.

 

“YES! Y-yes that’s fine” Yachi nervously laughed.

 

The two girls stood, making sure to grab their phones and wallets, and headed out the door. Yachi didn’t realize how bad at small talk she was until she was around Kiyoko. She never knew what to say and sometimes just felt that maybe silence was the best answer, seeing as Kiyoko was normally a quiet person.

 

“What kind of food do you like?” Yachi piped up

 

“I’m not much of a picky person, at least I don’t think I am” Kiyoko chuckled lightly. “But I do really like spicy food.”

 

“Oh! There’s a really good Korean restaurant right around here, the food there is pretty spicy”

 

“Lead the way”

 

Kiyoko gave Yachi a warm smile and Yachi had to take a second to make sure she was breathing right.

 

They were relatively quiet for the short walk to the restaurant, but it felt more comfortable, at least to Yachi. Seeing as it was a Wednesday night, they got seated rather quickly. Some awkward small talk was made as they looked over the menu, Yachi gawking every time Kiyoko pointed at some of the spiciest things listed. It didn’t take long for them to decide, and now that all they had to do was wait, Yachi started fidgeting. She didn’t know what to talk about, she could talk about class but she’d rather talk about non-school related things.

 

Yachi started out with just fidgeting her hands and glancing around until Kiyoko let out a small laugh.

 

“W-what?” Yachi turned her eyes towards Kiyoko, curiously.

 

“Nothing, you’re just fidgeting a lot… it’s cute”

 

_It’s cute… Shimizu Kiyoko just called me cute… Is this real did that really just happen oh my god I can die happy_

“C-cute?” Yachi stammered

 

“Yep” Kiyoko held a hand to her mouth to cover more of her laughter.

 

“O-okay” Yachi kicked her feet around, not sure of what to say now.

 

“So what kind of things do you do outside of class?” Kiyoko started.

 

“Oh, um, not much. It may sound childish but I do a lot of arts and crafts, it’s really calming and fun. I also hang out with Hinata and his roommates a lot… yeah outside of those things I don’t really do much else ha ha…”

 

“That sounds nice. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to hang out again and do some arts and crafts, it sounds fun”

 

“R-really?! That’s totally okay! I’d love that!” Yachi tried to contain her excitement, but seeing the smile on Kiyoko’s face told her she wasn’t doing that great of a job of hiding it.

 

They continued to chat idly until their meals came. Yachi was surprised how much easier it got to talk to Kiyoko. She always had such a calm and collected air around her and it helped Yachi calm her own nerves. She was also surprised with how much they had in common. They both preferred nights in versus going out and doing extravagant things. They both enjoyed similar movies, although Kiyoko did like horror and Yachi is still semi-scarred from the horror movie she saw a couple or so ago.

 

When their food arrived they sat in a comfortable silence as they ate. They made small comments here and there about how good the food was, and Yachi looked in horror as Kiyoko added extra spice to her dish. Yachi honestly couldn’t understand people who could eat things that hot, she’s convinced they must have been born with intestines of steel.

 

They finished up, paid, and left back to the apartment to finish the rest of their homework. Yachi felt and probably looked noticeably less tense and it just felt so comfortable to be hanging out with Kiyoko. Yachi honestly hoped that Kiyoko’s offer to hang out again was honest and that she was not just saying it.

 

With how diligent Kiyoko and Yachi were when it came to homework and studying, they got all of the assignments for their class done in about two hours and did some extra studying in prep for their test on Friday. At about 8pm they called it a night and Kiyoko left. Before leaving, they made plans to study in the library tomorrow and Friday before their test and Yachi couldn’t stop smiling even after Kiyoko was long gone.

 

Yachi moved all of her books back to her room and flopped down on her bed, opening her phone.

 

 **Kyoutani [6:30pm]:** seeing as u haven’t responded to those question marks im assuming that ur dead

 

 **Kyoutani [6:35pm]:** rip

 

 **Yachi [8:10pm]:** im not dead! I LIVE

 

 **Kyoutani [8:13pm]:** ew

 

 **Yachi [8:13pm]:** why are u like this

 

 **Kyoutani [8:15pm]:** anyway why were u freaking out earlier?

 

 **Yachi [8:16pm]:** do u not remember wat today was?????

 

 **Kyoutani [8:17pm]:** wednesday ??

 

 **Yachi [8:17pm]:** … :I

 

 **Kyoutani [8:20pm]:** oh I remembered the goddess date thing right

 

 **Yachi [8:21pm]:** YES! It went really well and we planned to study together the rest of the week before our test! AAANND she wants to hang out like NOT study related!! AAAA

 

 **Kyoutani [8:22pm]** git gud

 

 **Yachi [8:23pm]:** kyou are u actually a meme and just never told anyone about it

 

 **Kyoutani [8:25pm]:** shut up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!! sorry for the slow update but things have been hectic and i've moved into my friends house but its a MESS so i've been cleaning the whole house like everyday and my phone company is also giving me hell so I've just been dealing with a lot (dont even get me started on job hunting for the summer oh god)
> 
> but yeah here's the new chapter! hopefully i can start updating a bit faster but it's uncertain
> 
> Please leave comments or thoughts!
> 
> <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyoutani's match with Iwaizumi and Co.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM BACK FROM THE DEAD!
> 
> sorry for errors n what not didn't really edit

        All of Thursday and Friday Kyoutani had his ear chewed off by Yachi, ranting non-stop about Shimizu. Kyoutani didn’t know if having to listen to all of this was what ‘being a good friend’ meant, but seeing as how she would say ‘thank you for listening’ and gave a sincere smile after all of her rants, Kyoutani assumed what he was doing was right (instead of just telling her to shut up).

 

It was Saturday afternoon and for probably the first time this semester Kyoutani actually had all of his homework done. Out of nervousness for the match with Iwaizumi and his friends later today, Kyoutani ended up busying himself with school work, but now that it was all done he just laid on his floor, thinking of everything he could do wrong at todays match. He knew he shouldn’t be this nervous, but some part of him just really wanted to impress Iwaizumi and show him that he wasn’t just some immature, selfish brat on the court. And knowing that Iwaizumi’s friends would be there made it even worse. Kyoutani could care less about Oikawa being there, but he hasn't met any of Iwaizumi’s other friends and felt the need to make a good first impression.

 

In the midst of Kyoutani laying and groaning on the floor, his phone started buzzing, causing him to groan more.

 

**Iwaizumi [1:00pm]:** you’re still good for the match today?

 

**Kyoutani [1:05pm]:** yes

 

**Iwaizumi [1:06pm]:** great! we’ll be meeting at the station by work at around 3:30

 

**Kyoutani [1:08pm]:** k see u there

 

Kyoutani rested his phone on his stomach and let out a long sigh.

 

_Welp, if I’m going to be evaluated on my shitty teamwork skills might as well not try and worry over it too much…_

***

 

Out of nervousness, Kyoutani ended up getting to the meeting place about ten minutes early. He sat at a bench near the entrance of the station and focused majority of his attention to his phone, looking up every now and then to check if Iwaizumi had shown up yet.

 

Kyoutani was in the middle of checking up on his beloved cats when he noticed someone walking towards him. Before he closed his phone to look at the person, they sat right next to him on the bench and got way too close for comfort.

 

“Oikawa…” Kyoutani growled.

 

“Kyouken! I was so _thrilled_ to hear you’d be joining us today!”

 

Oikawa shot him one of his award-winning smiles and Kyoutani just glared at him harder.

 

“Oh come one, don’t be so sour. I mean, I just saw you playing neko atsume on your phone how bitter can you be, _really_ ”

 

At that Kyoutani couldn’t help the extreme blush that crept up his face, mouth opening and closing. Oikawa laughed obnoxiously at his expression, which caused Kyotani’s face to set in an even deeper glare.

 

_I’m just gonna punch him, that’s it… yep just punch hi-_

“Oi! Shittykawa stop picking on him” Iwaizumi shouted, voice stopping Kyoutani’s thoughts, as he approached the two.

 

Two other people, who Kyoutani didn’t recognize and just assumed they were the friends he was talking about, followed him. However, as they approached Kyoutani counted out that there was five of them, meaning that there’d be uneven teams.

 

“Iwa-chan! I’m not picking on him, but anyway, where’s Yahaba? I thought he was also coming” Oikawa stood to greet them.

 

“Yeah, he’s just running a bit late, he said he’ll meet us at the court” The dude with short pinkish hair spoke up, stepping forward from where he stood behind Iwaizumi.

 

Kyoutani put his phone in his bag and awkwardly stood up, not entirely sure what to do. He felt very out of place, seeing as he only really knew Iwaizumi. Sure he _knew_ Oikawa, but he wouldn’t consider them close at all and he viewed him more as a pest than anything. On top of that, he didn’t really know what sort of relationship him and Iwaizumi had. They were co-workers so of course they were well acquainted, but he didn’t know if they were close enough to be considered friends.

 

“Alright, then let’s head out” Iwaizumi called out and started in the direction of the gym.

 

Kyoutani walked quietly next to Iwaizumi and just observed everyone converse, not really wanting to intervene in the conversation. That is, until Iwaizumi brought him into it.

 

“Right, I almost forgot to introduce you,” Iwaizumi looked at Kyoutani and then shifted his gaze to his other two friends.

 

“This is my friend from work who’d I told you guys about” Iwaizumi then looked back over at Kyoutani, “Kyoutani, this is Hanamaki and Matsukawa”

 

Kyoutani gave a curt nod and the other two shot him a peace sign and a wink, which he chose to ignore.

 

“Well, he certainly is the quiet type” Hanamaki snickered.

 

“It’s better than you noisy idiots” Iwaizumi retorted, which elicited a snort from Kyoutani.

 

It still felt a bit awkward, but the tension in Kyoutani’s shoulders began to relax and as he watched the conversation go on he gradually got more comfortable.

 

They arrived to the public gym fairly quickly, it only being a 15-minute walk from the station. They headed towards the volleyball court and dropped their things by one of the benches. Shortly after, they began stretching and one other person walked into the room. The man was slightly taller than Kyoutani and had soft-looking, nicely quaffed hair.

 

“Yahaba!” Oikawa exclaimed, making his way over to said man.

 

Kyoutani’s eyes widened as he looked between Oikawa and the man who was supposedly ‘Yahaba’.

 

_Oh no… there’s two of them._

***

 

Within the first half of the first match, Kyoutani already knew he really disliked Yahaba, probably just as much as he disliked Oikawa. They were put on opposite teams, and they were probably yelling at each other every other spike. Well, Yahaba wasn’t really ‘yelling’ but was definitely egging Kyoutani on, which made Kyoutani’s efforts at ‘good teamwork’ go down the drain.

 

“Kyouken! When I toss to Maki-chan don’t just go for it! Calm the heckie down” Oikawa whined, glaring at the blonde haired player.

 

“Heckie?” Hanamaki chuckled.

 

“Shut up!!” Oikawa whined more.

 

“I’m landing the spikes, aren’t I?” Kyoutani spoke up

 

“Well yes, bu-“

 

“Then I don’t see a problem” Kyoutani growled, and then walked back into position.

 

The teams were split up Oikawa, Kyoutani, and Hanamaki versus Iwaizumi, Yahaba, and Matsukawa for the first match. Already, it was very obvious to everyone that Kyoutani had anger issues. In Kyoutani’s defense, Oikawa and Yahaba’s joined presence was a huge catalyst in his aggression. However, Kyoutani’s team happened to win the first match, but before continuing, Iwaizumi insisted on having a ‘talk’ to help Kyoutani with this teamwork problem.

 

“Ok, so, I think we’ve all noticed that Kyoutani can get a little out of control on the court” Iwaizumi started.

 

“A little?!” Hanamaki spoke up, clutching his bruised elbow after being knocked down by Kyoutani for like the 10th time.

 

“…Sorry” Kyoutani mumbled.

 

“It’s… fine. Anyway, first things first, Yahaba stop teasing him and egging him on, it’s gonna make his temper worse on the court and that’s something were trying to help him control” Iwaizumi gave Yahaba a pointed look, which was returned with a meek nod from the younger man.

 

“Second,” Iwaizumi shifted his gaze to Kyoutani, “listen to Oikawa okay? I know he annoys you, but he’s a great setter and knows what he’s doing. One of the most important things about teamwork is _listening_ to your teammates, got it?”

 

“Iwa-chan did you just compliment my skills?!” Oikawa squealed

 

“Shut up, Shittykawa” Iwaizumi lightly smacked the back of the setters head.

 

“…Yeah, I understand” Kyoutani grumbled.

 

“Why are you so sour? How long is the pole that’s stuck up your ass, like wow” Yahaba chimed in, squinting at Kyoutani as if he was inspecting him.

 

“Yahaba” Iwaizumi said sternly, interrupting whatever comeback Kyoutani was trying to think of.

 

“Ok, ok, sorry” Yahaba threw up his hands defensively.

 

“Alright, for this match lets have Me, Kyoutani and Oikawa on one team, Yahaba, Matsukawa, and Hanamaki on the other”

 

They all made some sort of sound of acknowledge and moved to their respective sides of the court.

 

Once the match started, the air itself was noticeably different. It could have been since Iwaizumi was on the same team as him, or that Yahaba actually listened and didn’t try anything to egg Kyoutani on, but he felt like he had more control. He still didn’t listen completely to Oikawa, which caused for him to get yelled at by Iwaizumi a couple times, but they somehow made it work. It somehow started to feel more like a team effort versus Kyoutani going at it on his own. Although, he did hate it and get genuinely mad when Oikawa used him as a decoy and ended up tossing to Iwaizumi.

 

Again, Kyoutani’s team won, so they switched up teams and played another game. Total, they played about five matches before they felt like they were going to pass out. The more matches they played the more Kyoutani started to at least grasp the concept of teamwork. There was a lot more yelling on everyone’s end, especially Iwaizumi’s, and Kyoutani felt kind of bad for that since majority of the yelling was caused by him acting up.

 

At the end they all sat around the bench, catching their breath and drinking water.

 

“So” Matsukawa panted out “Is Kyoutani gonna join us every week now?”

 

“I don’t know, would you like to?” Iwaizumi quirked his eyebrow and looked over at Kyoutani.

 

“Uh” Kyoutani froze, not really prepared to have everyone’s attention directed at him.

 

Of course he wanted to keep playing, but seeing how much trouble he caused he didn’t know whether he was still welcomed or not.

 

“I-if that’d be okay, then yes, I’d like to” Kyoutani mumbled.

 

“Oh my god, why does he speak so politely to Iwaizumi _only”_ Yahaba exclaimed, sighing dramatically.

 

“Better watch out Oikawa, mad dog might steal yo man” Hanamaki spoke up, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

 

“Kyouken, you traitor!” Oikawa pouted and glared in his direction.

 

“What?” Kyoutani growled, looking genuinely confused.

 

Iwaizumi just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

 

“Well, I don’t mind if he joins us, we can turn this into ‘Project: Help Kyoutani’s Interpersonal Skills’” Matsukawa stated.

 

“I like the sound of that” Hanamaki agreed, standing up from where he was sitting on the floor.

 

“Ok, now that that’s decided can I go home? I need to shower I feel disgusting” Yahaba grabbed all of his things and looked at everyone expectantly.

 

“Yeah, the gym closes soon anyway so we should head out” Iwaizumi grabbed his things and waited for everyone to gather their stuff before heading out.

 

They all walked back to the station, most of them parting ways to get on different trains. The only one of them that shared a train with Kyoutani was Yahaba, and Kyoutani had no real intention of talking to him so he decided to put his earphones in.

 

To Kyoutani’s luck, Yahaba didn’t have much intention to speak to him either, let alone sit next to him, so the train ride back was rather peaceful.

 

When Kyoutani got home, he threw his bag in his room and hopped into the shower, the exhaustion from the matches fully catching up with him as soon as he stepped into the nice, hot water.

 

After Kyoutani got out and dressed, he started to make some food, noticing a note on the fridge saying that all of his roommates were out at Kenma’s place. Despite starting to like the company of his roommates, Kyoutani was way too tired to deal with their noise right now and sighed in relief after reading the note.

 

As he finished up making his food he felt his phone buzz from his sweatpants pocket.

 

**Iwaizumi [7:30pm]:** hey great job during the games today, I know everyone got a bit heated and there was more yelling than usual but don’t beat urself up about it, ur definitely making improvements, even if they were small. overall everyone had a great time and im glad you agreed to playing with us again

 

Kyoutani paused and read the message over again. First, Kyoutani was confused as to why Iwaizumi would send such a lengthy message after some matches just between friends, but then it hit him that Iwaizumi probably assumed that Kyoutani was beating himself up over the way he acted during the matches. Second, Kyoutani felt oddly appreciated? He probably hasn’t felt this appreciated since he was praised and pushed forward to play volleyball when he was a kid.

 

Kyoutani smiled down at his phone before typing out a reply.

 

**Kyoutani [7:35pm]:** yeah im sorry for all the trouble… but thank you

 

**Iwaizumi [7:36pm]:** no problem man, u can only make progress from here on out

 

Kyoutani didn’t really know what to say in response, so he decided to not reply and just leave it as that.

 

He moved over to the couch and turned on the TV, putting some shitty action movie on as he ate. And despite the games today being a semi-disaster, Kyoutani honestly didn’t feel that bad about himself.

                                                                                              

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg guys im sorry i havent updated in like a month? idk things have been a lot on my end and i had huge writers block and zero motivation. also sorry that this chapter isnt even that long??? yeah
> 
> I ALSO DON'T KNOW HOW TO WRITE VOLLEYBALL MATCHES OR SPORTS IN GENERAL SO I APOLOGIZE FOR THAT SHITTYNESS !!! 
> 
> hopefully i can get my shit together and update more regularly (to whoever is still reading this)
> 
> Please leave comments & thoughts! <3
> 
> (as well as stuff you guys would like to see in later chapters!)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> brunch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for any mistakes i didn't really edit

        It was Sunday, early afternoon, and Kyoutani found himself begrudgingly awake and at the café that Yachi worked at. He was also accompanied by all of his roommates, Hinata taking it upon himself to organize a last minute “roommate Sunday brunch”. He also didn’t really see how this was a ‘brunch’ seeing as the café didn’t really serve any _real_ meals. Sure, they had nice sandwiches and cute platter food and pastries, but Kyoutani saw those as more of a snack versus an actual meal. Especially after yesterday’s matches with Iwaizumi and his friends, Kyoutani was pretty exhausted after not having played sports for a while. This also meant that he was pretty fucking hungry and it would take more than just an egg and sausage biscuit sandwich thing and a coffee to fill his hunger, and he wasn’t about to go ordering five sandwiches, his wallet would not allow that.

 

He tried every now and then to steal something from one of his roommates’ plates but seeing as they were ALL big eaters made it a bit more difficult. So, Kyoutani found himself ordering a caesar wrap and banana nut muffin. Ordering two more things wasn’t as bad as five, so he decided to settle for that and eat whatever else he had at home when they got back.

 

“You must be really hungry, Kyoutani” Kageyama stated.

 

“The food here isn’t exactly filling” Kyoutani mumbled in response.

 

“Excuse me? What are you mumbling about our food?” Yachi gave Kyoutani a pointed stare, but it didn’t last long as her face broke out into a grin.

 

“He saf iff nuf ffirrin” Hinata exclaimed (or at least tried) with his mouth full of food.

 

“Hinata please don’t talk with your mouth full” Yachi said as she handed the ginger some napkins.

 

“Yeah, its disgusting, idiot” Kageyama grimaced

 

“But don’t you talk with your mouth full for like 80% of the time you eat?” Lev questioned innocently.

 

“Shut up!”

 

“Anyway…” Yachi switched her gaze over to Kyoutani, still somewhat expecting an answer.

 

“I said it’s not that filling”

 

“Well, this is a small café, with a specialty in drinks and desserts. I personally would choose an actual restaurant for a brunch outing… Who’s cute idea was this anyways?”

 

“Hinata’s” They all said in unison.

 

“Ah” Yachi nodded, and then waved them off as she went back to work.

 

“Wh-what? What kind of reaction was that?” Hinata spoke up, waving his arms animatedly

 

“Probably a ‘Ah, makes sense why you’re here and not at an actual brunch place’ reaction” Lev stated.

 

“We’re bringing her business! Okay?! She should be ecstatic that we’re here!” Hinata huffed.

 

“She’s definitely _is_ happy that her friends eat at her work place, but probably just baffled at your idea of what ‘brunch’ is supposed to be” Kyoutani chuckled softly.

 

“Did you just chuckle?” Lev moved his hand to poke at Kyoutani’s cheek, only to have it swatted away quickly.

 

“Um, yes? Guys, I laugh, I have human emotion” Kyoutani deadpanned.

 

At that, everyone at the table, even Kageyama started laughing. Kyoutani knew that they weren’t laughing _at_ him, since he could understand his small range of expressions would warrant people to be surprised anytime he did anything but glare and growl at people. Usually if someone had laughed at him like this for simply stating he could laugh, he’d probably get bitter and try not to laugh ever, but instead he found himself laughing along with his roommates.

 

After brunch, Hinata, Kyoutani, and Lev returned to the apartment while Kageyama went straight to his part time job. Kyoutani sort of wished Kageyama came back with them, only so that he could cause some sort of halt to Lev and Hinata’s never-ending conversation about the concept of eggs. Luckily, Kyoutani’s phone started to buzz, giving him more reasons to not pay attention to the conversation.

 

**Yachi [12:30pm]:** i was unsure if ur practices with iwaizumi were a secret from everyone or not so i didn’t ask but HOW WAS IT???

 

**Kyoutani [12:31pm]:** shouldn't u be workin?

 

**Yachi [12:31pm]:** i started lunch break after u guys left im not a bad worker im the best

 

**Kyoutani [12:32pm]:** ok

 

**Yachi [12:32pm]:** ok??? I ASKED U A QUESTION MISTER! HOW WAS PRACTIC WITH UR COWORKER YESTERDAY???

 

**Kyoutani [12:33pm]:** omg chill

 

**Kyoutani [12:35pm]:** it was ok… kind of a disaster on my end

 

**Yachi [12:35pm]:** y u say that?

 

**Kyoutani [12:37pm]:** idk I just kinda was hot headed for 95% of the matches which was making other people frustrated and angry but at the end of the day I got invited to join them every weekend from now on

 

**Yachi [12:38pm]:** :OOO

 

**Yachi [12:39pm]:** that’s good tho!!! It may be frustrating for everyone but at least they still wanna help u!! that’s so great kyou!! Im happy for u :D

 

**Kyoutani [12:40pm]:** ur emojis r dumb

 

**Yachi [12:41pm]:** thts not the response i wanted but ok

 

**Kyoutani [12:42pm]:** :^I

 

**Yachi [12:42pm]:** NO

 

**Kyoutani [12:43pm]:** >:^I

 

**Yachi [12:44pm]:** pls don't make that the last text before my break is over

 

**Yachi [12:44pm]:** kyou that emoji is so scary y would u do that

 

**Yachi [12:46pm]:** actually it kinda looks like u

 

**Kyoutani [12:47pm]:** im taking offense to that

 

**Yachi [12:50pm]:** good

 

**Kyoutani [12:51pm]:** WOW

 

**Yachi [12:52pm]:** k breaks over byeeeeeeeeeee

 

**Kyoutani [12:52pm]:** RUDE

 

***

 

When they got back to the apartment, Lev threw himself onto the couch and whined into the cushions.

 

“Do I even want to ask?” Kyoutani said as he toed off his shoes, Hinata following behind him.

 

“I just remembered I have homework and I don’t wannaaa” Lev whined as he turned over onto his back to face his roommates.

 

“Well, sucks to suck”

 

“But what about you?” Hinata perked up, “don’t you have homework? Or are you ignoring it again? Yachi’s gonna be mad and nag you again if-“

 

“I already finished it all” Kyoutani said curtly.

 

Hinata and Lev both gave each other a look and then looked over at Kyoutani.

 

“What?” Kyoutani growled.

 

“You? Finished all of your homework before Monday morning? What’s this world coming to!” Lev threw his arms in the air animatedly.

 

“Seriously!? What got you to be so productive?!” Hinata exclaimed, having joined Lev on the couch.

 

“Uh, I just had a thing with my coworker yesterday and I ended up doing all my work out of nervousness” Kyoutani admitted, grabbing an apple from the kitchen and then joining the other two in the living room.

 

“A thing?!” The two said in unison, Lev wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, while Hinata just looked like a surprised baby chick.

 

“Um, yes?” Kyoutani replied, not entirely sure why they were so surprised.

 

“So, like, it was a date? I didn’t even know you could like people in that way” Lev spoke up.

 

“What? No, it wasn’t a date.” Kyoutani gave Lev a baffled look, “We just played some volleyball” Kyoutani muttered.

 

“What!? And without us??? I wanna see you play” Hinata whined.

“Uh sorry? Him and his friends are just helping me out with something so I’m practicing with them” Kyoutani admitted.

 

He was a bit worried about admitting this to his roommates, seeing as they were volleyball nuts. Them now knowing he’s practicing with Iwaizumi feels like he’s just opened the door for them to offer to play volleyball together at anytime. Or worse, even invite themselves along to his matches with Iwaizumi. It’s not that Kyoutani doesn’t _want_ to play with them; it’s more that he rather learn how to control himself more before playing any matches with them. Knowing his roommates, the way he is now they wouldn’t know how to do with him on the court and some sort of fight would probably break out.

 

“Oh, why not practice with us?” Hinata asked, looking genuinely confused.

 

Kyoutani stared at Hinata for a couple seconds, his gaze obviously making the smaller boy uncomfortable, and then he shrugged.

 

“I don’t know, he has a more specialized regimen for me, so I rather stick with that” It was a bit of a white lie, but Kyoutani didn’t really know what else to say.

 

“Oh ok, makes sense” Hinata nodded thoughtfully.

 

“When we do have a match together, get ready and be prepared for my unstoppable spikes and blocks!” Lev shouted, suddenly gaining energy again.

 

“Um… sure”

 

Hinata stifled his giggles and Lev pouted at Kyoutani’s lack of enthusiasm.

 

“Anyway, you guys wanna play some Mario kart?” Lev shifted, leaning forward towards the console.

 

“Don’t you have homework to do?”

 

“UGH”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a bit short but a somewhat quick update wowie! Hope you guys like it
> 
> also if you guys have suggestions for things to come in later chapters let me know!
> 
> Please leave comments or thoughts <3


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> finals and plans for the break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't proof read so pls comment if there are any huge errors or whatever!

        The next month went by in a blur, and before anyone knew it they were all panicking about finals and more than ready for winter break to start. Kyoutani couldn’t even keep track of most things he was doing nowadays. He didn’t know if this was what going into adulthood was like but he wanted it to stop. Balancing work, school, weekend practices with Iwaizumi, and friendships was unbelievably exhausting and he didn’t think that he’s ever been this mentally exhausted ever. In the past, whenever things would even get close to this he would just shut down and isolate himself, ignoring any social or academic responsibilities. But now, he felt somewhat obligated to try and balance things and it was weird.

 

Yachi had also been a huge help in all of this. She could tell when Kyoutani started to get exhausted of people or company by the way he got increasingly more frustrated with everything and everyone. Once she would notice this she would come up with some excuse for everyone to just chill out and leave him be for a moment, or would just keep him quiet company while they did homework or studied.

 

It was finals week and Kyoutani had just gotten back to the apartment after finishing up his second final. He only had two more to go and wasn’t feeling like absolute shit about them. He planned to take a quick nap before going back to studying, but his roommates, Hinata specifically, had other plans.

 

“Hey! How’d your final go?” Hinata asked enthusiastically.

 

“Uh, okay I guess, don’t think I failed” Kyoutani toed off his shoes and moved to seat himself on the couch.

 

“Awesome!” Hinata was obviously more jittery than usual. Finals week had him hopped up on caffeine and sleep deprivation.

 

“Anyway, winter break starts next week and if you’re not visiting home or going anywhere, we were thinking of having a New Years party together!” Hinata explained, waving his arms animatedly, “We don’t know exactly where yet, or how many people, but most people will be back from visiting families and what not after Christmas sooooooo”

 

“I’ll be staying here the entire break so besides work I’m free”

 

“YES” Hinata practically screamed.

 

“You done? Can I go take a nap now?” Kyoutani winced at Hinata’s loudness and stood up from the couch.

 

“Oh, yes, sorry” Hinata shot up, and headed back to his own room, probably having to either study or notify people that Kyoutani was a ‘yes’ for their new years plans.

 

Kyoutani picked up his bag and made his way back to his room. Once inside, he dropped his things and plopped down on his bed. He took his phone out of his pocket, making sure to set an alarm before drifting off to sleep.

 

***

 

Kyoutani woke up a solid three hours later, phone buzzing aggressively and blaring the song he chose as his alarm. He quickly picked it up to silence the offensive sound, and then proceeded to roll back around on his bed. He huffed, squeezing his eyes shut, knowing that he _had_ to get up and study, but he had absolutely no motivation in him what so ever.

 

_‘Only two more finals’_ , he told himself, ‘ _just two more, you can do this’_

 

Kyoutani lifted his body from his mattress, and shifted to the edge of the bed, where he could reach his backpack. He emptied the bag and grabbed for the textbooks and notebooks he needed to start studying for his last two finals.

 

About an hour into studying, Kyoutani found he was pretty focused, and was surprised that he was this focused, especially after napping. Usually after he woke up from a nap he had no idea what day or time it was and felt like a zombie who needed to be put to rest again.

 

However, after another thirty minutes, Kyoutani’s phone started to buzz again, giving him a decent distraction.

 

**Yachi [6:00pm]:** AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

**Kyoutani [6:01pm]:** …excuse me?

 

**Yachi [6:05pm]:** KYOUTANI IM I IAM SCREAMING

 

**Kyoutani [6:06pm]:** um I noticed… u ok?

 

**Yachi [6:07pm]:** I CANT TYTPE RN CN I CALL U???????

 

**Kyoutani [6:10pm]:** k

 

Kyoutani closed out of the messaging app and about two minutes later his phone started buzzing again, Yachi’s caller ID popping up on the screen.

 

“Hello?” Kyoutani put her on speaker as he continued to glare down at his notes.

 

“KYOUTANIIIII AAAAAAAA” Yachi’s voiced boomed from the speaker.

 

“Ok if you literally just called me to scream at me, I’m hanging up” Kyoutani deadpanned.

 

“Ok, ok ok ok ok, I’ll stop screaming, sorry, I’m just, yeah, sorry” Yachi sounded like she was out of breath and obviously panicked.

 

“Are you ok? You sound like you’ve been running a marathon”

 

“It’s about Kiyoko!!” Yachi practically screamed again.

 

“Of course it is” Kyoutani muttered. “What happened?”

 

“So you know how we’ve been hanging out off and on right? Well like… I don’t know, it’s been pretty in the ‘friend’ territory so I just kinda signed myself off to admiring her from afar, so to speak, not wanting to ruin this great friendship we have now! And we’ve also been seeing each other more often to study for our final together, which is great!” Yachi spoke rapidly, stopping now and then to catch her breath.

 

“Slow down a bit, you’re making yourself run out of breath” Kyoutani laid back on his bed, fully discarding his study notes.

 

“Right. Sorry. Anyway, she asked me if I wanted to go to some cake shop with her, on Christmas. ON. CHRISTMAS! THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO DO THAT ON CHRISTMAS ARE LIKE COUPLES OR FAMILIES!!!! AND WE SURE AS HECK AINT FAMILY”

 

Kyoutani could practically see the mix of excitement and nervousness in Yachi’s face.

 

“Right. So you said yes?”

 

“OF COURSE I DID, YOU GOON!” Yachi’s voice boomed out of the phone speakers again.

 

Kyoutani chuckled, “Hinata asked me about some new year party earlier, you should invite her to that”

 

Kyoutani could hear an audible gasp on the other end of the line.

 

“That’s a great idea! Assuming everything goes fine on Christmas” Yachi muttered the last part.

 

“How could it not? You guys have become pretty good friends by now I take it. I mean she doesn’t despise your presence if she keeps asking to hang out.” Kyoutani stated.

 

“Y-you’re right, I shouldn’t be so worried, but I can’t help it!” Yachi squealed.

 

“Chill, pop a Xanax or something”

 

“What? No! Where would I even get Xanax?” Yachi whined.

 

“You could go back home and take some from your mom” Kyoutani stated, like it was the most obvious thing.

 

“What?! My mom doesn’t even take Xanax! Wait, you totally sound like you’ve done this bef-”

 

“Anyway, how’s finals been?” Kyoutani’s tone was innocent, obviously avoiding the topic at hand.

 

“Don’t change the topic!” Yachi continued to whine, “Ugh, whatever. My finals were okay, I’m definitely positive about them”

 

The rest of the phone call was spent whining about finals and wishing for it to just be over already. Yachi shared a bit of her winter break plans, but asides from the date with Kiyoko, the new years party, and a couple days she was going to visit home, she was pretty much in the same boat as Kyoutani. They made promises to meet up when they could over the break, and Yachi was keen on the idea of going on ‘friend dates’, which to Kyoutani that sounded stupid and he didn’t understand why she couldn’t just call it a ‘hang out’.

 

They talked for about an hour until Kyoutani hung up, seeing as his stomach was starting to yell at him for food.

 

When Kyoutani left his room, he saw Lev, Kageyama, Kenma, and Hinata all out in the living room. It looked like they were taking a study break, seeing as they were all playing super smash bros on Kenma’s game cube. Either that, or this is what they have been doing instead of studying.

 

“Hey” Kageyama turned his head and greeted him.

 

“Hey” Kyoutani mumbled in response, still a bit tired from his nap.

 

“What was all those muffled screaming sounds coming from your room?” Lev asked, eyes not leaving the TV screen.

 

“Oh, that was Yachi on the phone, she was yelling about her date with Kiyoko” Kyoutani said as a rummaged through the kitchen.

 

The room went silent, and Kyoutani didn’t notice until he heard Hinata practically shriek.

 

“DID YOU SAY DATE????” Hinata dropped the controller, to Kenma’s dismay, and faced Kyoutani.

 

‘ _Shit’_

 

Kyoutani forgot that neither he nor Yachi had told their friend group about Yachi’s crush on Kiyoko. It had been some time since she had brought it up, so it was easy for Kyoutani to forget that she even asked him not to tell anyone. She was just getting so comfortable and friendly with Kiyoko that he assumed that at least she had told Hinata.

 

But, seeing Hinata’s, Lev’s, and Kageyama’s reactions as of now, that alone told him that none of them knew.

 

“Um… did I say date? I meant like uh” Kyoutani wracked his brain for an answer, “A friend date.”

 

Kenma snorted, eyes now locked on his phone, seeing as everyone else had ignored the game in favor of Kyoutani’s new bit of information on Yachi’s love life.

 

“Wait, so Yachi likes Shimizu?” Kageyama asked, looking genuinely confused.

 

Kenma sighed and turned to look at all of them, “You’re seriously asking? It’s probably the most obvious thing ever”

 

“What?!” The three of them said in unison.

 

Kyoutani shared a look with Kenma, and they both went back to doing what they were doing, and ignored the three oblivious idiots.

 

The three of them continued to pester both Kyoutani _and_ Kenma about this new development, but both of them somehow silently agreed to ignore it all. Sooner than later, they got bored of pestering the two blondes and re-focused on the game they were playing.

 

After Kyoutani finished prepping his dinner, he sat on the couch and watched them play. As he watched, it was painfully obvious that Kenma was the best out of the four, and that Kageyama was the worse. He couldn’t tell if Hinata was bad or not, but he was definitely being an annoying little shit as Kirby. Lev was somehow a beast at Mr. Game and Watch and that honestly took Kyoutani by surprise.

 

The next hour or two was spent switching off controllers so that Kyoutani could get in on some games. Kyoutani was good, but he knew he was a long shot away from beating Kenma. But, it was fun nonetheless and he was perfectly content with beating the rest of his roommates and keeping his spot in second place.

 

Kyoutani was the first to leave and go back to his studies, he’s not sure how much longer the rest of them played, but he could he a loud groan come from the living room followed by a muffled, “why can’t it be break already”, which told him that the games were shut off, and that everyone was begrudgingly going back to studying.

 

Kyoutani finished looking over his first set of notes and moved to grab for his other notebook and laptop, so that he could look at the power-point slides his professor put up online.

 

‘ _Just two more finals’_ He sighed, ‘ _two more.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wowie semi quick update! hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it's a bit short and uneventful so sorry bout that
> 
> Please leave comments & thoughts! <3


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> new years trip pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! this small new years arc will probably be 2 or 3 parts long
> 
> ((also sorry ahead of time for any errors im kind of sick and didnt really proof read))

     With finals said and done, winter break has finally come and majority of the students were getting ready to go visit family in their home prefectures. That is, everyone except Kyoutani, and most of his roommates. Lev apparently was going to some family thing for Christmas, but would be back by New Years.

 

Hinata, and whoever else, had planned a New Years party, and Kyoutani was oddly excited but a bit wary of how it could turn out. He didn’t even know where it was being held, or if it would even be considered a party. To his knowledge, there were only a good 10 or so people coming, and that seemed more like a hang out rather than a party (which he’s thankful for). He didn’t really feel like putting too much thought into it, whatever happens, happens, right?

 

It was Saturday, and Kyoutani didn’t have work, so as of his official first day of winter beak, he’s spent over half of the day in bed. It was cold outside the apartment and cold inside the poorly insulated unit. The only warm place was the mess of blankets on his bed. However, there was one slight flaw in this paradise of blankets, and it was that Kyoutani couldn’t ignore his hunger forever, he had to get up. He got up once before to go to the bathroom and brush his teeth, and after being out in the ice box that is his apartment, he never wanted to leave the blankets again.

 

Instead of getting out from under his blanket pile, Kyoutani wrapped his quilt around himself, and waddled out of his room and into the shared living space. Hinata was on the couch with a cup-of-noodles, and watching some kids anime on TV.

 

“Yo” Kyoutani croaked out as he waddled pass Hinata and into the kitchen.

 

“Oh hey!” Hinata perked up.

 

Kyoutani opened the kitchen cabinets, looking for more ramen, not really wanting to spend any energy making an actual meal.

 

“I have a question” Kyoutani heard Hinata yell from over on the couch.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“You like winter sports? Like snowboarding and skiing?”

 

“Uh yes? I wouldn’t say I’m great at them, but it’s fun I guess” Kyoutani moved his head to look at Hinata from the kitchen, “why?”

 

“Well, I was thinking, for new years we could all go to Nagano and like try and rent a cabin for a day or two and go skiing or something!” Hinata beamed.

 

“That sounds fun, but expensive for a bunch of college students” Kyoutani turned his attention back to his ramen hunt.

 

“Well, I found one place that had a discount for groups of ten or more! And the price looks doable when split between that mainly people. Plus it would probably be more fun to do this then an actual party”

 

“Wow, you really did your research” Kyoutani pulled out a chicken ramen packet, and moved to boil some water. “I’m in then”

 

“Woo!”

 

“There’s no need for yelling” Kyoutani half glared at Hinata, as he grabbed himself a bowl for his ramen.

 

“There’s always a need for yelling” Hinata countered.

“Literally, no” Kyoutani deadpanned as he finished up his ramen and joined Hinata on the couch.

 

“Pssh, whatever”

 

“So, who’s coming to this exactly?” Kyoutani blew on his food before digging in.

 

“Us four, Yachi, hopefully Shimizu, Kenma, Inuoka, Nishinoya, and Tanaka” Hinata counted off on his fingers as he listed names, “Oh, and maybe Daichi, Suga, and Asahi, but they’re not sure of their plans and if they come they’ll be coming separately”

 

Kyoutani nodded slowly as he listened to the names, only knowing the first couple names. He’s heard about Nishinoya and the others, and most likely has seen them around, but to his knowledge he’s never met any of them.

 

The rest of the day went surprisingly quiet. It was one of the few times where Hinata and Kyoutani were in the apartment, just the two of them. And usually when this happened, Kyoutani stayed in his room and didn’t interact with the other much. But, this time, it somehow ended up in him and Hinata silently agreeing to make a pillow and blanket fort in the living room as they ate ramen and continued to watch children’s anime.

 

Half way through whatever mind-numbing show he was allowing Hinata to continue to play, Kyoutani pulled out his phone and opened up his usual chat with Yachi.

 

 **Kyoutani [6:00pm]:** yo u hear about the new new yrs plan??

 

 **Yachi [6:05pm]:** the nagano trip thing right???

 

 **Kyoutani [6:06pm]:** ye r u bringing the bae

 

 **Yachi [6:06pm]:** omg shes not my bae

 

 **Kyoutani [6:10pm]:** not with that attitude

 

 **Yachi [6:11pm]:** anyway yes I did invite her and she did in fact say yes and I don't want to think about it because it makes me nervous like kYOUTANI WERE GONNA BE STAYING IN A CABIN TOGETHER????

 

 **Kyoutani [6:12pm]:** and probably share a room since you guys are the only girls on the trip

 

 **Yachi [6:13pm]:** YOURE MAKING THIS WORSE

 

 **Kyoutani [6:15pm]:** lol

 

 **Yachi [6:15pm]:** srsly why

 

 **Kyoutani [6:20pm]:** y wot

 

 **Yachi [6:25pm]:** Y R U LIKE THIS

 

* * *

 

The first couple weeks of break were a blur. Kyoutani went to work, chilled in the apartment, saw friends occasionally, but that was about it. He spent Christmas staying in the apartment watching movies and playing video games, so besides work Kyoutani’s break was mostly filled with doing nothing, and that’s exactly what he liked.

 

However, unlike the rest of his break, today Kyoutani had to wake up bright and early. Tomorrow was new years, which meant everyone was heading out to Nagano prefecture today. It was a 3-hour bus ride, and with most of the group wanting to have the whole day to fool around, they left at a nice 6:30 am. Hinata had surprisingly gathered everyone’s money for the bus tickets to buy them in advance and got the reservation for a cabin in the mountains near a ski lodge. Kyoutani, as well as Kageyama and a few others were not expecting Hinata to be this organized.

 

So here they were, all ten of them waiting at the bus stop at 7 am sharp.

 

“Holy hard nipples its cold” Lev complained.

 

“You know it’ll only be colder in the mountains” Kenma stated, bundled in jackets.

 

“But we’ll be doing a lot of outdoor activities! It’ll keep us warm” Yachi smiled, despite her obvious shivering from the cold.

 

“I like your positive attitude” Shimizu added in, giving Yachi a small smile.

 

“I-y-yes, thank you!” Yachi stuttered out, face taking on a new shade of pink.

 

The rest of the group chuckled at the two of them. Well everyone but Kageyama, he didn’t look like he was fully functional just yet.

 

The bus arrived at exactly 7:15, and after having their bags stored they filed onto the bus. Kyoutani ended up sitting next to Lev, which would have been bothersome, but after Kyoutani put his headphones in Lev got the message that he didn't want to talk.

 

The bus ride was mostly in silence, everyone deciding to nap instead of converse. There were some whispered conversations, and as the sun rose the chattering got a bit louder.

 

They arrived in Nagano at 10:30, and had to get on another bus that took them to where their cabin was, so they didn’t arrive at their final destination until 11:00am. Once they got to the cabin, Kenma, Kyoutani, Kageyama, and Yachi dropped their bags and found a place to sit, exhausted already from their morning travels.

 

With the exception of Shimizu, the others were filled with energy and exploring the cabin. Shimizu was obviously a morning person, seeing as she didn’t seem the least bit tired.

 

The cabin was nice and more spacious than what they were expecting. There were 3 bedrooms, 1 on the first floor and 2 on the second. There was a bathroom on each floor, and a spacious living room with a fireplace that lead into an open kitchen on the first floor. All the furniture was some shade of red, making the whole cabin feel warmer than it was.

 

Lev was the first one to test out the fireplace, immediately lighting it while Kyoutani watched on in fear. Honestly no one could blame Kyoutani being wary of Lev being the one to light the fire.

 

“Hopefully this place has better insulation than our place” Kyoutani mumbled.

 

“If we just lay in front of the fire it’ll be fine” Lev yawned as he stretched out on the floor like a cat.

 

Kenma joined him, sitting with his toes close to the fire as he played a game on his phone.

 

“Alright!” Nishinoya exclaimed as he made his way back into the living room after exploring the cabin.

 

Everyone turned to look at the short energetic man, waiting for whatever it was he had to say.

 

“So there’s ten of us and three rooms, the smallest room seems to be on the first floor, so Yachi and Kiyoko want to take that one?” He continued.

 

“S-sure!” Yachi piped up

“Alright! Then it’ll be a four-four split in the two rooms upstairs. Who wants to sleep with this sexy fucker!” Nishinoya exclaimed, pointing to himself.

 

Tanaka wolf whistled and jumped up next to Nishinoya, high-fiving him for some dumb reason that Kyoutani couldn’t quiet understand. In the end, it ended up being Nishinoya, Tanaka, Hinata and Kageyama in one room and Kyoutani, Kenma, Inuoka, and Lev in the other. Kyoutani was pretty pleased with this, seeing as the only really loud person in his room was Lev. Inuoka was loud on occasion but that was normally if he was with Hinata and the others.

 

“Okay! Now that that’s all settled, let’s go have some fun!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wowie finally updated this fic after so long, i'll be surprised if anyone's even reading this or paying attention to it anymore lol
> 
> sorry for the long wait! its my senior year in college and things have been kind of hectic with school work and post-grad job applications and so on so i havent had the time to give this fic any attention. 
> 
> anyway! I hope you guys enjoy and please leave comments & thoughts <3


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> new years fun pt 2! 
> 
> (will have a 3rd part and may extend to having a 4th part lol)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poorly edited so let me know if there any terrible mistakes!

        It should have taken them about 10 minutes to get to the ski resort, but since Tanaka and Nishinoya _had_ to start a snowball fight on the way there it took them about 20 minutes. The one thing that stopped them from having a snowball fight for the rest of the day instead of continuing to the resort was when Hinata missed Kageyama by a long shot and ended up hitting Kyoutani in the face instead. At that point, no one even dared look his way and just quietly continued on. Once arriving, the resort was as expected, harboring a large crowd of people who were also spending their holiday here. They walked inside so they could rent out some gear, Hinata squawking about the amount of people there non stop.

 

“Of course there’s a lot of people here you idiot, it’s the holidays” Kageyama grumbled

 

“Yeah, but it’s PACKED! How are we even gonna do anything with all these people?” Hinata flailed.

 

“Well the slopes themselves don’t look too bad, it’s mainly all the people loitering around and resting that makes it seem more packed” Inuoka stated with a reassuring tone.

 

“That’s true. The thing we’ll probably have to wait for the most is getting our gear, which we would should probably go ahead and do now” Shimizu spoke up.

 

Everyone nodded and took a few seconds to decide on what gear they wanted. Yachi, Kiyoko, Lev, Kenma, and Kageyama ended up renting out skies, while the rest of them got snowboards. Majority of them have had experience snowboarding or skiing, minus Kenma and Hinata. Inuoka urged Hinata to try skiing first because it was easier, but that only made him want to try snowboarding even more as he screamed something about never giving up on a challenge. Nishinoya and Tanaka laughed along, only egging him on further. Once everyone was settled, they made their way towards the slopes. Yachi and Kiyoko broke off and headed towards the intermediate slope once they got their skies on. Everyone else headed to the bunny slopes, not because they needed it but mainly to watch Hinata try and snowboard. Lev stayed closest to Kenma, helping the smaller man get used to the skies, and far away from Hinata who looked like a fish out water.

 

Hinata face planted at least 10 times within the first 15 minutes of trying to snowboard. Tanaka, Nishinoya, Kageyama, and Kyoutani stood at the bottom of the slope watching the small orange haired man fail miserably. Inuoka was by his side trying to help him, but obviously none of what he was saying was working. Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Kageyama joined them soon after, zooming past Hinata multiple times and teasing the poor man each time they made their way down the slope. After watching a bit longer Kyoutani decided to go about on his own and headed to the intermediate slope to get reacclimated with snowboarding before trying any of the more advanced slopes. On one of his run downs he spotted Yachi and Kiyoko at the bottom of the slope, resting a bit on one of the benches. He joined them shortly, stopping close to where they were.

 

“Hey” Kyoutani said, panting slightly.

 

“Oh hey! Finally ditched the goon squad?” Yachi perked up upon seeing Kyoutani, shifting closer to Kiyoko to offer room to sit on the bench.

 

“I could only handle watching Hinata fail for so long before it got sad” Kyoutani unclipped his boots from the board and sat down next to Yachi.

 

“I’m pretty sure he’d be good if he took his time and didn’t just rush into it head first… but then again it’s very like Hinata to do that” Kiyoko pitched in.

 

“True” Kyoutani and Yachi said in unison.

 

They continued to chat idly and joke for a while until Kyoutani got back up again to head up to the advanced slope. Yachi and Kiyoko stayed behind, saying something about going to get some hot chocolate and hang out by the fire place that was in the resort. The more advanced slope started at a higher point on the mountain and had some obvious obstacles. All the people at the top had more serious snow gear, some of them talking enthusiastically with each other about their new go-pros, making Kyoutani almost laugh on reflex when he heard one dude exclaim “bro that’d look sick with a go-pro!”.

 

Kyoutani’s first run down went rather smooth, only wiping out once when he was going too fast (and boy would he feel that tomorrow), but all in all it went well. After a couple more runs he knew he’d get used to it and be able to ride more smoothly down the slope.

 

On his second time at the top, he noticed a group of guys looking in his direction. He assumed they were looking at him because of his intense resting bitch face, but he wasn’t looking back at them so he didn’t understand why he was being stared at. One of the guys, who was wearing a black and green snow jacket, giant snow goggles obscuring his face, starting making his way over to Kyoutani. Kyoutani paused and watched as the man moved his goggles off his face as he continued to approach him. Upon seeing his face in full, Kyoutani realized that it was none other than Iwaizumi.

 

“I-Iwaizumi?” Kyoutani stuttered out.

 

“Hey Kyoutani! Oikawa noticed you from afar. Didn’t know you were coming up here for the holidays as well”

 

“Uh yeah, I’m up here with my roommates and some friends…Who else are you here with?” Kyoutani asked

 

“Cool. Yeah, it’s me, Oikawa, and our friends Kuroo and Bokuto” Iwaizumi gestured back over to his group of friends. Oikawa was the only one with skies and he lifted his goggles and waved energetically at the two of them.

 

“You the only one of your friends on the advance slope?” Iwaizumi nudged Kyoutani lightly

 

“Yeah… some of them headed back inside for hot chocolate, while the others are dicking around on the bunny slope I think” Kyoutani scratched the back of his neck, not sure what else to say.

 

Before Iwaizumi could say anything in response, the rest of his group moved towards them and he got a very loud introduction from Bokuto and Kuroo.

 

“Yo!! You Kyoutani? Oikawa mentioned you work with Iwaizumi. I’m Bokuto!” Bokuto pulled up his goggles to reveal his bright, owl-like eyes, and patted Kyoutani on the shoulder. “And this is Kuroo!”

 

“Thanks Bo, but I can introduce myself” Kuroo lifted his goggles as well, revealing golden eyes that reminded Kyoutani a lot of Kenma’s eyes.

 

“So, you losers wanna race to the bottom?” Oikawa said with a playful smirk on his face.

 

“Pffft, Oikawa you’re on skies, and we’re all on snowboards, we’re totally gonna go faster than you” Kuroo said as he leaned on Bokuto’s shoulder.

 

“You’re gonna eat those words” Oikawa narrowed his eyes and pointed his finger at Kuroo.

 

Iwaizumi just chuckled, not commenting on anything.

 

“You guys in?” Bokuto asked, shifting his gaze to Iwaizumi and Kyoutani.

 

“I’m gonna do the smart thing and not rush my way down the slope” Iwaizumi stated.

 

“Yeah what he said” Kyoutani piped up.

 

“Awwwww, no fun~” Oikawa whined.

 

“Shut up, shittykawa, try not to break a leg” Iwaizumi teased.

 

Bokuto, Oikawa, and Kuroo lined up and asked for Iwaizumi to count down for the race. Iwaizumi counted down from 3 and when he shouted 1 the three men took off.

 

“Will they really be okay?” Kyoutani asked, looking over at Iwaizumi.

 

“They do this shit a lot so I think they’ll be fine” Iwaizumi said as he moved his goggles back over his eyes.

 

Kyoutani copied his motions, putting his goggles back on and making sure his boots were securely clipped onto his board.

 

“Wanna go?” Iwaizumi asked, tilting his head towards the slope.

 

“Yeah”

 

The two of them started down the slope, going down with relative ease. They were about neck-and-neck, Iwaizumi only slightly ahead.

 

Kyoutani couldn’t even see where the other hooligans went, probably closer to the bottom of the slope. He got a bit caught up in looking at his surroundings and didn’t notice the small boulder that was protruding out of the ground, sending him flying, and the last thing he heard was Iwaizumi yelling something before darkness enveloped him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wowie an update!!
> 
> this happened a lot later than I planned, but I'm on break rn so I finally got some time to work on this fic! (if anyone's still reading it lol) I also got a new computer and spent some time getting everything onto my new harddrive and what not. 
> 
> hope you guys liked this chapter and ill try and come out with the next part as soon as i can ! (hopefully while im still on break)
> 
> please leave comments & thoughts!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> aaaand the third part to the new years shenanigans !!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote like half of this chapter while not completely sober and didn't really take time to edit so sorry if there's a lot of errors!

     Yachi was in the lounge in the ski resort, relaxing in a nice large comfy chair with a big mug of peppermint hot chocolate, Kiyoko sitting in the other large comfy chair. The two of them chatted idly as they sipped on their warm drinks, and when they went silent they ended up observing all of the people in the resort, making comments here and there. Overall, Yachi was having a great time with Kiyoko and was glad that things hadn’t turned out awkward. She only hoped that Kiyoko was enjoying this as much as she was. 

 

After finishing their drinks and relaxing a bit more they headed back outside and to the slopes. When they got to the bottom of the ski lift they noticed the whole thing wasn’t moving. They both looked around curiously, they could see the rest of their friends grouped together at a bench that was in between the bunny slope and more advanced slopes. Kiyoko looked over at Yachi and she silently nodded, signalling that they should go join them. 

 

“Hey guys” Yachi greeted.

 

“Do you guys know why the lifts are stopped?” Kiyoko inquired, brows furrowing slightly. 

 

“We think someone got injured. There were medics rushing to the top and stuff and everything kind of halted” Inuoka spoke up first. 

 

“That’s awful… I hope they’re okay” Kiyoko said quietly.

 

“Anyone know where Kyoutani is?” Yachi asked. She didn’t want to look concerned or jump to conclusions, but with one friend missing she could only assume the worst. 

 

Everyone looked around and at each other and realized their grumpy friend was nowhere to be seen. Yachi only got a few shrugs and murmured “I ‘unno” in response. This only caused her to worry more. Then she realized she could just call or text him to find out where he was. 

 

“Um, alright. I’ll call him and tell him to meet us here then!” Yachi pulled out her phone and selected Kyoutani’s contact info and called. The line rang and went unanswered for a few seconds before he picked up. 

 

“Hey! Kyoutani where are you? Cou-” Yachi started, but was cut off by an unfamiliar voice on the other line. 

 

“ _ Hello? Is this one of Kyoutani’s friends that’s at the ski resort?”  _

 

“U-um, y-yes? Who is this?” As Yachi spoke, everyone’s expressions grew confused as to who she could be talking to. 

 

“ _ I’m Iwaizumi, I’m with Kyoutani right now. Um, I’m sure you can all see the commotion that’s happening on the slope right now. Well, he got into a bit of an accident and broke his leg. He’s still unconscious and the paramedics are getting ready to take him to the hospital. I planned to head to the hospital after they got him in the ambulance, since I rented a car here, do you want a ride there?”  _

 

Yachi felt her heart drop into her stomach and she was trying so hard not to panic.  _ Kyoutani is okay… it’s just a broken leg… he’ll be okay _ . Yachi took a couple deep breaths before continuing. 

 

“Th-that would be so great! We are at the bottom of the slope at a bench near the bunny slope” Yachi stammered out.

 

“ _ Alright, I’ll meet you there” _

 

The call ended and Yachi looked over at everyone’s concerned expressions. She took another deep breath before explaining the situation to everyone.

 

“S-so turns out the person who got hurt is Kyoutani and he’s being taken to the hospital. Um, this guy named Iwaizumi, who was with him, is gonna meet us here and take us to the hospital to meet Kyoutani there.”

 

“Is he okay?” Kiyoko asked, concern growing on her face. 

 

“I-I think so… he said he just has a broken leg and is still unconscious but it didn’t sound any more serious than that” As Yachi answered she could see everyone take a sigh of relief. 

 

“Will all of us fit in this dudes car?” Hinata chimed in.

 

“Um, probably not… only a few of us will be able to fit I assume. Everyone else will either have to go back to the cabin or can get a cab there…” Yachi trailed off as she looked over to see 4 tall, intimidating men walk over to them. 

 

“Hey” The one in the black and green jacket spoke up as the group of men approached, voice seeming very familiar. “Are you guys Kyoutani’s friends?” 

 

“Ah! Yes!” Yachi piped up. 

 

“I’m Iwaizumi, I talked on the phone with one of you earli-” In the middle of explaining himself, Iwaizumi’s friend with the nicely coiffed hair interrupted him. 

 

“Wow! I didn’t think Kyou-chan had so many friends!!” 

 

“Oikawa shut up and don’t interrupt me, this is serious” Iwaizumi lightly smacked his friend on the back of the head. “Anyway, I can only take two of you guys to the hospital”

 

“That’s fine” Inuoka spoke up this time. “We’re staying at a cabin that’s not far, the rest of us can just wait there.”

 

“Sounds good, so who will I be taking?” Iwaizumi nodded and looked over the group of friends, not knowing which one of them was closest to Kyoutani. 

 

“Um, I’d like to go. M-my name’s Yachi, b-by the way” Yachi inwardly cursed herself for stuttering and being so nervous, but she was filled with too many emotions of panic and concern to be able to control it. 

 

“I’ll join as well. I’m Shimizu, thank you so much for doing this for us.” Kiyoko spoke up next, slightly bowing towards Iwaizumi, and gave Yachi a reassuring smile. 

 

“It’s no problem at all. I’m a friend of his as well and also want to make sure he’s okay” Iwaizumi scratched the back of his neck. “Alright, let’s return all of gear and get going” He turned to face the friends he was with. “Unless you guys want to stay, I can meet you back here”

 

“I wanna see Kyou-chan!” Iwaizumi’s friend, Oikawa, exclaimed. 

 

“Bet he’d be more than happy to see you” Iwaizumi said, tone thick with sarcasm. “Kuroo, Bokuto?”

 

“We’ll just hang here, we don’t know him too well so we’ll just leave all that stuff up to you” The man with the messy bed-head answered. 

 

“Sounds good, alright let’s go”

 

***

 

The entire ride to the hospital helped Yachi sooth her nerves. She learned that Iwaizumi was the co-worker who Kyoutani plays volleyball with, and although no one said anything she was pretty sure Oikawa was his boyfriend.Once they got to the hospital, they asked for Kyoutani at the front desk and the nurses told them his room number and that he was now conscious. 

 

The four of them made their way to his room, and upon opening the door they all saw an angry, confused, pouting Kyoutani. Oikawa broke out laughing the minute he saw the younger man’s expression, Iwaizumi swiftly hitting him in the stomach making him choke on his laughter. 

 

“S-sorry, it’s just… his face! S’like a mad lil bull dog!” Oikawa squealed, being smacked by Iwaizumi once more. 

 

“Hey, how’re you feeling?” Iwaizumi ignored Oikawa’s whines and directed his attention towards Kyoutani. 

 

“Like shit” Kyoutani answered curtly. 

 

“...Right” Iwaizumi nodded, not knowing how to reply to the curt answer. 

 

“U-um” Yachi spoke up, after a few moments of awkward silence, “could I have a moment alone with him?”

 

Everyone raised their brow at this, Kiyoko nodding and being the first to leave the room, Iwaizumi and Oikawa following after. 

 

“I’m really fine, Yachi. It’s just a broken leg, could’ve been worse” Kyoutani spoke after everyone left the room, leaving just the two of them. 

 

“I-I know! I was just worried sick, ok?” Yachi gave Kyoutani a textbook ‘worried mom’ look. 

 

Kyoutani chuckled and rubbed at his head, wincing a bit. 

 

“Did they contact your mom?” Yachi asked tentatively. She knew little about Kyoutani’s family life, seeing as it was something he wasn’t too open talking about. She knew that his dad has been out of the picture for a while and that he’s been on awkward terms with his mom, but besides that she doesn’t know much more.  

 

“Uh, yeah. I forgot I still had her as an emergency contact, despite living so far from her now.” 

 

“Oh, did you guys talk?” Yachi continued to ask. 

 

Kyoutani nodded his head softly, taking his time in replying. “Yeah… she was pretty pissed, but mainly badgered at me that she didn’t wanna get another call about me being in the hospital again, ‘parently scared the shit out of her”

 

Yachi chuckled lightly. “I think getting a call from the hospital about your kid that would scare the shit out of any parent. A call from the police station would probably be next on the list” 

 

Kyoutani made a sound of acknowledgement, letting them sit in a comfortable silence before he spoke up. “She wants me to come home for the rest of break” 

 

“Oh.. um.. Do you want to?” Yachi asked, tentative tone never leaving her voice. 

 

“I’m not sure. I mean, I was kind of happy leaving home and didn’t really have plans to visit… even throughout middle and high school I was never really home, my mom always left me in the care of the neighbors, so I don’t really see why she’s deciding to care now”

 

Yachi stayed silent for a few moments, not really knowing how to respond at first. “Well… sometimes people just have a change of heart?” Kyoutani gave her a pointed look, making her stuttered a bit in responding, “Y-ya know? U-um… l-like it’s shitty but you just got in an accident, and she’s worried and is probably thinking about how she never really bonded with you, and wants to try and reconnect?” 

 

Yachi wanted to sound more confident in her response, but Kyoutani’s hard stare still intimidated her to this day, despite how close they’ve gotten. 

 

Kyoutani grunted in response, and shifted his gaze at the door as they heard someone knock. After Yachi gave the okay for them to come in, the doctor that was looking over Kyoutani walked in, Iwaizumi, Oikawa, and Kiyoko trailing behind. They all sat quietly as the doctor talked to Kyoutani, Yachi only half paying attention, picking up on the parts about when he would be released and what he should do to care for his leg at home. Luckily, Kyoutani would be released in a couple of hours. Since he’s being released today, Iwaizumi proposed that he take Oikawa, and Kiyoko or Yachi back to the resort so that’d he’d have room to comfortably take Kyoutani back to their cabin. Kiyoko spoke up for Yachi and said she’ll be heading back first with Oikawa and left with the other two, leaving her and Kyoutani alone again. 

 

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay!” Yachi sighed, patting Kyoutani’s shoulder gently. 

“Yeah.. fuck how am I supposed to go to work” Kyoutani mumbled

 

“Just call your boss! They should give you days off to recover.”

 

Kyoutani grunted in agreement, and his expression changed to one of that in deep thought. 

 

“Still thinking about whether you should go home or not?”

 

“..Yeah”

 

“Well, we’re having new years in the cabin and you have all the rest of today and tomorrow, and the bus ride back to think about what you want to do! Maybe even talking it out with your mom would be a good” Yachi smiled. 

 

Kyoutani scrunched his nose at the thought of talking it out with his mom and Yachi chuckled. 

 

“Guess you’re right. I do have some time to think it over, so rather not stress about it now” Kyoutani huffed, rubbing the side of his head softly. 

 

They spent the rest of their time chatting idly, Kyoutani teasing Yachi slightly about all the time she’s spent with Kiyoko on this trip so far. After a while Iwaizumi joined them, seeming more relaxed and talked more easily with the two of them as they waited for Kyoutani to be released.

 

Once he was free to leave, it didn’t take long for them to get him into the car. He thought it was stupid that he had to be taken out in a wheelchair, when he could have just used crutches, but his grumpy mumbles about that soon died down. 

 

“So” Kyoutani started, breaking the comfortable silence that fell over them in the car “Are all the idiots back home?”

 

“Yeah” Yachi chuckled. “Oh.. shoot! I totally forgot to keep Hinata posted about your condition!”

 

Iwaizumi chuckled at this, shaking his head. “Get ready for some overbearing emotional friendship time, Kyou”

  
Iwaizumi and Yachi  laughed as they only heard disgruntled groaning emit from the backseat in answer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this ended up a lot longer then i thought. the next chapter might be equally as long or longer idk i gotta figure it out lol
> 
> the end of the semester is right around the corner, so hopefully when break rolls around i'll be able to update quicker!
> 
> Anyway, please leave thoughts & comments! It's highly appreciated and really motivates me! <3


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> last part of the new years trip!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poorly edited, so if there are any huge mistakes please let me know!

            After waking up at the hospital, Kyoutani knew he was utterly fucked. He was lucky that only his leg was broken, with no other serious damage. But now he has to deal with getting days off of work to recover, and seeing how he’s never really been on his boss’s good side he didn’t know how well that was going to go over. At least he knew he had Iwaizumi on his side. Speaking of, he really didn’t expect to run into Iwaizumi (and regretfully Oikawa too) on this trip, but he’s glad he did. Seeing him at the hospital, and that he even drove Yachi there, was honestly amazing. He didn’t think anyone would be nice enough to do that for him, but then again it was Iwaizumi, he’s a great coworker and an even better friend. But even with having his friends look out for him, he still had to roll over the idea of going back to visit his mom during his recovery. When the hospital had called her and informed her of his injury he got a separate call from her immediately on his cell. He didn’t really even want to think about this weird relationship he has with his mother, but seeing the present circumstances he’s kind of forced to. Honestly, if he didn’t have Yachi, he’d probably be having some sort of mad panic attack about the prospect of visiting home alone. But, Yachi was right, he had a few days to thoroughly think it over and was with his friends so he had something to take his mind off of it as well.

 

Speaking of which, Kyoutani was honestly less than thrilled to see how everyone would react once they got back to the cabin. It’s new year’s eve and Kyoutani can’t really remember what they had planned, but whatever it was was probably on holt for the moment until he got back.

 

The majority of the car ride was quiet, Iwaizumi and Yachi talking softly in the front seat while Kyoutani dozed in and out of sleep. He didn’t fully jolt awake until he felt the car stop and heard car doors open. Iwaizumi helped him out of the car and Yachi handed him his crutches and she continued to hold onto the small bag of medications the hospital had prescribed him. Before they made their way to the front door Hinata barreled through the door, yelling incoherently.

 

“KYOUTANI! YOU’RE ALIVE!!” Hinata sprinted towards him and was about to hug him until Yachi yanked him back by his shirt.

 

“Hinata! Have some sense! There’s snow on the ground and you don’t even have a jacket or shoes on! Plus, Kyoutani is injured don’t just run at him!” Yachi scolded

 

“Yessm ‘sorry” Hinata mumbled, looking guilty.

 

Kyoutani watched as Yachi dragged Hinata back inside, leaving him and Iwaizumi standing by the car.

 

“I’ll be heading back now, you gonna be okay?” Iwaizumi spoke up.

 

“Yeah… the crutches will take some time to get used to but I’ll survive” Kyoutani shrugged, as best he could with the crutches under his arm.

 

“Alright. Ya know, if you need some extra time off work I can help talk to the boss with you” Iwaizumi smiled over at Kyoutani.

 

“You’d do that for me?” Kyoutani could feel the semblance of a smile make its way onto his face.

 

“Of course” Iwaizumi chuckled.

 

“I might take you up on that then” Kyoutani found himself smiling along with the older man.

 

“Alright, take care then, don’t let the others smother you” Iwaizumi waved as he made his way back into his car.

 

Kyoutani waved back and turned to hobble his way over to the house. Yachi propped the door open for him so that he wouldn’t have to struggle with the door handle on his way in.

 

Once inside everyone practically yelled as they saw Kyoutani entered. He grimaced at the loud noise and honestly thought that everyone was really overreacting. Then again, if he were to describe this particular group of people he’d say they’re ‘extra beyond belief’. The only ones to not yell were Kenma, Shimizu, and Yachi. Even Kageyama yelled, but it mostly looked like he was angry yelling at everyone for yelling.

 

“We thought you were a goner!” Lev exclaimed, draping an arm over his eyes dramatically.

 

“...It’s just a broken leg… I’m fine guys” Kyoutani replied, a bit sheepishly since he wasn’t used to all the attention being on him.

 

“If you’re fine, then lets party it up for new years!!” Nishinoya yelled.

 

“Or, we could have a nice calm evening so that Kyoutani can get proper rest” Shimizu chimed in.

 

“I like that option” Kenma spoke up, not taking his eyes away from his 3DS.

 

Kyoutani nodded in agreement, the painkillers made him drowsy enough, he didn’t want to have to deal with too much at the moment. Luckily, Inuoka brought a plethora of DVDs and so they all decided to make dinner and have a movie marathon until countdown.

 

Once the sun set, everyone was bustling around the kitchen, making some sort of huge dinner. Kyoutani, Kenma, Lev and Inuoka stayed by the couches, Kenma not wanting to help and Lev being banished from the kitchen, and the four of them continued to watch whatever shitty horror movie Lev picked out from Inuoka’s pile. When dinner was ready, they all gathered into the kitchen and served themselves buffet style. Kyoutani remained on the couch and decided to try and grab a plate once everyone left the kitchen. To his surprise, Yachi came back over to the couch with a plate for herself and another plate for him.

 

“Hey, not sure if you’ll like everything I put on your plate, but here ya go” Yachi smiled as she handed him the plate.

 

“You’re too kind” Kyoutani said as he grabbed the plate. Luckily he wasn’t a picky eater and was fine with everything Yachi dished out for him.

 

“I try, I try” Yachi put a proud hand to her chest and chuckled.

 

Everyone got cozy in the couch area, some sitting on the floor since there wasn’t enough room, and watched movie after movie. The more restless people moved into the dining area to play some card games, and overall it looked like everyone was having a great time. When it got closer to midnight, the movies stopped and since the cabin TV had cable, Inuoka switched on the channel that was doing a huge new years event and countdown. Kyoutani had no idea how Nishinoya, Tanaka, Hinata and Lev were able to be so energetic even after all the snowboarding and skiing they’d done earlier. Kyoutani felt about ready to pass out, and it looked like a few others were too. Kenma was curled up in some blankets on one of the lounge chairs and was already asleep with his DS in hand.

 

“ALRIGHT 10 SECOND COUNTDOWN” Nishinoya yelled, jolting Kenma awake.

 

“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2”

 

“1!!!”

 

“HAPPY NEW YEARS”

 

***

 

Almost everyone went to bed immediately after the countdown,except for  a couple of people who stayed up to play a few more games before going to bed. Kyoutani was ready to pass the fuck out, so he quickly changed into sweats and washed up before crashing on his bed. Sleeping was really awkward with the cast but the painkillers allowed him to get a good night's rest.

 

The following day, Nishinoya, Tanaka, Shimizu, Yachi, Inuoka, Hinata, and Kageyama headed out to visit a shrine that was a little ways down the mountain. Lev slept in and wouldn’t wake up so they left him at the cabin, Kenma pretended to sleep so that he wouldn’t have to go, and Kyoutani stayed behind for obvious reasons. Everyone was back at the cabin around lunch time, and their bus ride home was at 3, giving them enough time to eat and pack before heading out. There were a few forgotten items that caused minor panic and rushing in and out of the cabin, but they made it to the bus stop on time and Kyoutani could finally sit. Everyone was relatively lively during the bus ride. Kyoutani ended up sitting next to Kenma, which was really awkward at first, but once the two of them silently acknowledged each other and also acknowledged that they both wanted silence, the awkwardness dissipated. Thankfully, this allowed Kyoutani to rest for majority of the bus ride. Once they got closer to home, he started to mull over the prospects of visiting his mom for the rest of break. He hadn’t seen her since high school graduation, seeing as she was too busy with work and didn’t help him move into his apartment when college started. Kyoutani decided he’d see how much time he could get off work and would use that time to go visit his mom.

 

They got back to the city around 5pm, just the start of rush hour. Kyoutani really didn’t want to deal with the trains during this time and dreaded the rest of their trek home. However, Kageyama suggested calling a taxi and they’d just split the cost, and luckily the rest of his housemates agreed on this action. After saying goodbye to everyone at the bus stop, the four of them piled into a taxi, Kyoutani getting front seat since he needed the leg room, and made their way home. It was a good thing that they didn’t live too far from the bus stop, or the taxi fare would’ve probably given all of them a heart attack.

 

Once home, Hinata dropped his bags and flopped on the couch with a huff. Kageyama made his way to his room to put his things away right away, and Lev joined Hinata on the couch, leaving the bags in a heap on the floor. Kyoutani stood awkwardly in the doorway before he sat down on the floor to take his one shoe off. After that, Kageyama came back out of his room and silently helped Kyoutani get his belongings to his room. Kyoutani was surprised by the action but decided not to comment on it besides a mumbled “thank you”.

 

“Man, that was sooooo much fun” Lev spoke up from where his head was squished into the couch cushions.

 

“Yeah!” Hinata exclaimed, “except the whole, ya know, Kyoutani breaking his leg… sorry”

 

“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about, it’s my own fault” Kyoutani replied

 

“Ya know if there’s anything that I can do to help just say so!” Hinata sat up straight on the couch and puffed his chest.

 

“Um, ok… the thing I’d need help most with is bathing though..” After Kyoutani said this out loud the room went quiet and Hinata’s eyes widened.

 

“Don’t look so shocked idiot, not like you haven’t seen another dudes penis before” Kageyama blurted out as he re-entered the living room, causing Lev to erupt with laughter.

  
“S-shut up!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy holidays everyone!! sorry for the wait but here's the new chapter! hoped you liked it! 
> 
> please leave comments & thoughts! it fuels me
> 
> <3


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kyoutani goes home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is gonna be cut up for a few chapters since I didn't wanna make one giant long chapter
> 
> ((probably some typos and errors, let me know if there are any big mistakes!!))

        After new years, everything sort of went back to its old pace. The day after new years, Kyoutani was to go back to work and totally did not tell his boss about his leg. Lucky for him, despite it being Iwaizumi’s day off, the older man insisted on going in with Kyoutani to get him some time off. It went over pretty well, the minute their boss saw Kyoutani hobble into the store with his crutches she sighed deeply. Kyoutani wasn’t a bad employee per say, but it seemed he was on the verge of being fired. If Iwaizumi wasn’t there he probably would have been. Luckily he was able to get time off for however long it took his leg to recover, and Iwaizumi offered to cover some of Kyoutani’s shifts. Their boss accepted his offer and went to go change the shift schedule around, making calls to other employees to see if they could cover as well, and said something about hiring a temp for the mean time. Kyoutani definitely felt like he owed Iwaizumi, but anytime he mentioned repaying the older man he simply shook his head and told him it was nothing. Kyoutani didn’t say anything after that, but still tried to plan a way to repay him anyway. 

 

Later that evening, Kyoutani found himself lounging on the couch, laptop on his lap, and now that he had the time off he was looking over bullet train tickets for a visit home. He’d been texting Yachi and she reassured him that it’ll be fine and probably best to visit his mom for the rest of break, but Kyoutani always thought up the worse case scenario and really dreaded going home. There was a small part of him that was hopeful, that wanted to believe that his mother has really changed and started to care about his well being. He wanted to believe that she changed from the mother who would leave him at their neighbors (who very much disliked him) house to go off with various men only to return a drunk crying mess. He wanted to believe that she changed from the mother who would hit him for every wrong thing that happened, who hurt and blamed him for his father leaving, which he didn’t understand since his father was far worse than she was. Anytime he brought that up she would say he wouldn’t understand and that love is complicated, but that only ever served to further his confusion. He was scared to go back there with an injury that made him so immobile, but the part of him that wanted to believe that she actually has started to care won over, and before he knew it he was buying round trip tickets to Miyagi. In case things were to go bad he only planned to stay for about 10 days, giving him an extra week and a half to spend back at the apartment before school started up again. 

 

He was to leave tomorrow afternoon and he texted his mother, letting her know that he was coming and gave her his arrival information. Strange enough, his mother seemed ecstatic that he was visiting and it made him feel weird. 

 

_ Maybe she really has changed.  _

 

***

 

The next morning Kyoutani was a nervous wreck. He triple checked his duffle bag, making sure he had everything. His roommates helped him pack a bit last night, and Yachi even dropped by in the morning for a bit to hang out before she had to head out to work. Hinata helped Kyoutani to the train station and carried his duffle for him. Even though Hinata was energetic and annoying, his company helped Kyoutani relax. Once he got to the train station and boarded the train, he started to overthink everything. He had no idea how to act around his mom, he had no idea what to even say. After a few minutes of being seated he decided to pop a painkiller and nap for the remainder of the trip. 

 

When he arrived in Miyagi, one of the train attendants was kind enough to help him with his bags and helped him through the ticket gate. Kyoutani found a bench to sit down at and pulled out his phone. Before he could send a text to his mom that he was there, he noticed a tall, slender figure approaching him. When he looked up, it was none other than his mother, Yamada Aki. After his parents got a divorce, his mother changed her surname back to her family name, while Kyoutani kept his dad's. She gave him a smile, and leaned down to give him a hug that he accepted. Kyoutani was honestly in a bit of shock. She looked the same but also very different. She looked… better. She still had her tired, sad eyes, but she looked healthier. Her raven black hair was done nicely in a high ponytail and she was wearing a nice, most likely new, black fitted peacoat. Kyoutani was relieved that she’s been taking care of herself, but he couldn’t help the small hollow feeling in his gut and the thoughts that screamed “my couldn’t you change sooner?”

 

“Kentarou” She said with a weak smile, that immediately turned into a playful glare. “You know you scared me half to death when I got that call from the hospital? I don’t hear anything from my son in months and that’s how I get back into contact with you? The hospital? Unbelievable” 

 

Her words were light and awkward; it was obvious she was putting an effort into at least re-patching things with good-hearted banter. 

 

Kyoutani chuckled and smiled awkwardly. “Yeah… m’sorry” He mumbled. 

 

“I see you still got that mumbling habit. I’m getting old dear, gotta speak up.” She smirked, grabbing his duffle bag.

 

Kyoutani nodded, not really knowing what to say. 

 

Once out of the station, they piled into his mom’s old car and drove home in relative silence. The silence wasn’t as uncomfortable as Kyoutani had imagined it’d be. It felt comfortable, and lacked the tension it used to have. However, instead of getting a nostalgic ride back to his old neighborhood, they were on a completely new route. Kyoutani’s gaze was locked on the moving scenery around them and his mom could tell he had a million questions and huffed before speaking. 

 

“I moved” She stated. 

 

Kyoutani turned his head away from the window and gave her a quizzical look. 

 

“Your dad” she continued, “He came back while you were gone and it caused me a lot of trouble. A… lot has happened and its been hard on me, so I decided to move to a different part of town.” She glanced over at Kyoutani, giving him a weak smile. 

 

Kyoutani nodded slowly, feeling dumb for having barely spoken a word this whole time. He didn’t know how to process the news of his dad having come back and how his mom had to deal with it all. She must have been hurting so much, but Kyoutani couldn’t give any words of consolation. 

 

His mom sighed at his silence and they continued on. 

 

When the pulled up into the driveway, Kyoutani stared at the unfamiliar house. It was small just like the previous one, but it looked cleaner and nicer. He felt incredibly bittersweet. He didn’t know how to feel about all these new developments, but he was happy for his mom, happy that she’s doing better. But a strong part of him was upset. Upset that this all happened once he was practically out of her life. Upset because he can’t just forget how much she had hurt him and be undeniably happy for her and act as though the past hadn’t happened. And just by looking at her, Kyoutani saw that she could tell she wouldn’t be easily forgiven. She was trying, and Kyoutani decided he should maybe try too. 

 

After getting settled into the house, his mom started making an early dinner. Kyoutani sat in the guest room and stared at the empty walls, fiddling with his thumbs. He sighed and leaned back on the bed, pulling out his phone and seeing that he got a couple texts from Yachi. 

 

**Yachi [5:00pm]:** hey!! how r things??

 

**Kyoutani [5:30pm]:** weird… idk its kinda awkward and a lot of things have changed, but everythings ok i think

 

**Yachi [5:31pm]:** thats good!! stay positive my boy!!

 

**Kyoutani [5:31pm]:** lol k

 

Kyoutani tucked his phone away and closed his eyes, he needed the few moments of silence before what was probably going to be an extremely awkward dinner. 

 

After a couple minutes he heard his mom call him for dinner and he sat up, moving to grab his crutches. Going from sitting to standing was still an awkward transition for him, but he was starting to manage and hobbled his way to the tiny clean kitchen. The small home was open plan and the dining table for two sat right next to the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room. Kyoutani leaned his crutches on the bar as he took a seat, staring at the food before him. 

 

She had made an absolutely delicious looking, and smelling, red curry and Kyoutani could already feel his mouth watering. 

 

“Let’s dig in” She said with a smile.

 

Kyoutani nodded eagerly and picked up his chopsticks. 

 

They ate in silence for the most part, Kyoutani giving compliments on the food from time to time which seemed to really please his mother. After a few more moments of silence and eating, his mother but her chopsticks down and looked at Kyoutani. 

 

“There’s… a few things I feel we should talk about” She started. 

 

Kyoutani nodded, letting her know it’s okay to continue. 

 

“I know I haven’t been kind to you in the past… but I’m trying to live better and I’ve been starting by treating myself better. I quit drinking and I got a new job as a receptionist at an animal clinic just down the road.” She paused and looked at Kyoutani as if she was gauging his reaction. 

 

Kyoutani looked away for a moment, the eye contact being a bit too much for him, and swallowed his food before talking. 

 

“That’s… really great mom…” The words fell awkwardly out of his mouth. 

 

“I also met someone” She said, albeit a bit hesitantly. 

 

Kyoutani raised his eyebrows at this, not knowing what to say. He knew he should be happy for her, but it didn’t feel right. He must have had an awful expression on his face because his mother began scrambling for words. 

 

“N-now don’t give me that look… He’s a really good guy, you should meet him while you’re here. I’d really appreciate that” She said with a smile, although her eyes still looked sad. 

 

“Why should I do that for you?” Kyoutani blurted out. 

 

Her expression fell and it became silent once more, except this time a horrid tension filled the air. 

 

“Kentarou… I want to make this wo-”

 

“Make what work?!” Kyoutani shouted. He couldn't contain the anger that was bubbling up. All of this was too much and he couldn't process it all at once. He was overwhelmed and it was making him irrationally angry. “I’m sorry but I can’t just be compliant and let you introduce all these new things about your life to me it’s fucking hard and confusing” his hand clenched his chopsticks and he tore at his napkin with his other hand, a nervous habit he was never really able to get rid of. 

 

“I know!” She shouted back, “I know…” she said again, but quieter. “I just… I love you, you know?”

 

“No, I don’t know” Kyoutani spat. 

 

“Sweetie, just listen, please” Aki’s eyes were brimmed with tears as she spoke. 

 

Kyoutani grew quiet and stared at his empty plate. 

 

She began with a sigh and Kyoutani could feel her eyes on him, “W-we’re both adults now and I’d like to try and handle this a bit more maturely-”

 

Kyoutani scoffed, causing her to pause before continuing. “This is something we both have to work at and I’d really like to start being in your life more… it’ll be hard for both of us but all I’m trying to say is that I want to be there for you and you don’t need to forgive me for the things I’ve done in the past, but I’d like for you to at least stay in contact with me and visit me every once in awhile…”

 

Kyoutani silently nodded, knowing that if he opened his mouth nothing good would come out. 

 

Aki sighed heavily again, wiping a few stray tears off her face. “A-and, if you don’t want to meet who I’m currently seeing… I’ll respect that, okay?” 

 

Kyoutani nodded, slower this time, and began to fidget slightly. He didn’t want to be sitting here anymore, the air was thick and it felt hard to breathe.

 

“I-I’ll clean the plates, you can go back into your room” Aki said as she stood up, gathering the dishes. 

 

Kyoutani got up and made his way back to the guest room, sprawling himself on the bed. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, willing any emotions that bubbled up in him back down where they belong. 

  
_ This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you guys liked it! i'm not very good at writing angst or dramatic shit but here ya go. kinda setting the mood for what the next couple chapters are gonna be like
> 
> please leave thoughts & comments!! <3


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :^)

              Kyoutani woke up the next morning feeling like he’d been chewed up and spit out. His head felt heavy and he could feel how congested his nose was. After sitting up in bed and fully assessing the situation, he realized that he was sick. Kyoutani let out a strangled groan and flopped back down on the bed. First a broken leg, now a cold? He knew if his mom saw him sick she’d try and make him stay longer than what he originally planned.

 

He struggled to untangle himself from his blanket nest, the struggle only making him feel sweatier and more feverish. Once untangled he grabbed his crutches and made his way to the bathroom. Once cleaned up he returned to his room and sat on his bed with a sigh. He checked his phone, seeing that Yachi had sent some texts.

 

 **Yachi [10:00am]:** hey!!

 

 **Yachi [10:30am]:** hows day 2 goin??

 

 **Kyoutani [11:30am]:** sorry i just got up… im sick

 

 **Yachi [11:35am]:** yiKES u gonna be ok??

 

 **Kyoutani [11:37am]:**..ill survive

 

 **Yachi [11:40am]:** u better

 

Kyoutani chuckled as he put his phone in his sweatpants pocket and made his way to the kitchen. The house was extremely quiet and there was no sign of his mother anywhere. On the fridge there was a post-it note saying she’d gone to work and to help himself to any food in the house. Kyoutani took off the note and threw it out before surveying the fridge. There was just enough ingredients to make himself some miso soup and  so he started putting his breakfast together. Honestly, making food while trying to balance on one foot was a task Kyoutani wasn’t ready for and he’s half glad no one’s here to watch him move awkwardly around the kitchen, but on the bright side it was just soup so he could just lean on the counter and stir it as he waited for it to finish.

 

Once done, he dished himself a bowl and helped himself to the two onigiri his mom had in the fridge. After he ate and stored the rest of the soup in some tupperware, he snooped around the cabinets and bathroom in search of some cold medicine. He found some in bathroom cabinet but there were only 2 tablets left. After taking them he sent a text to his mom, reluctantly letting her know that he’s caught a cold and asking if she could pick up some medicine on her way home.

 

For the rest of the day Kyoutani found himself lounging around, watching TV or browsing the internet. Kyoutani was in the midst of a nap when he heard his mom come home. The sound of the front door opening and closing was enough to alarm him that she was home, but not loud enough to make him fully get up. He heard two soft knocks on his door before it opened slightly. He poked his head out of his blanket nest and groggily looked over at the door. His mom flicked on the lights, causing him to groan, and she laughed lightly at the sight.

 

“You look like such a grumpy cat” She teased before moving closer and sitting at the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”

 

She tried to put a hand on his forehead to feel his temperature, but Kyoutani half-assedly swatted it away, causing her smile to falter.

 

“Like shit” He mumbled.

 

“Well, I got you some medicine and a bunch of oranges since those have always helped when you’d get sick when you were little. I also got some more food and such. What’d you have this morning?”

 

“I, uh” Kyoutani stretched and yawned, pushing more of the blankets off of him and sitting more upright. “I made some miso soup… there’s still some left in the fridge…” He groggily rubbed at his eyes as he watched his mother.

 

“And how’s your leg?” Aki kept her eyes on him and smiled lightly.

 

“Okay, kind of itchy… not too much pain” Kyoutani fidgeted, he never got used to being watched so closely by his mother.

 

“Alright, are you hungry? I can heat up the rest of your soup and whip something else up with it?” She got off the bed and stood by the doorway, waiting for his reply.

 

“Yeah, sounds good” Kyoutani mumbled.

 

After she left the room, Kyoutani fully untangled himself and made his way to the living room and plopped on the couch, pulling out his phone. He realized he hasn’t checked on his cats in a while and quickly opened neko atsume, giving them the attention they deserved. His mother had some jazz station on as she cooked and was humming along with the tunes. Despite it being awkward after their talk yesterday, things seemed much calmer and Kyoutani found himself able to relax. That is, until he felt his mom peering over his shoulder. He hid his phone and turned to scowl at her.

 

“My, isn’t that cute!” Aki said with a wicked grin.

 

“Shouldn’t you be cooking? What if the kitchen catches on fire” Kyoutani growled, trying not to let his embarrassment show.

 

“Everythings fine~ I’m just letting it all slow cook no worries. Anywho, what is this cat app you got?” Aki’s smile grew wider as she pressed further.

 

“Nothin” Kyoutani mumbled.

 

“Doesn’t look like nothing! Tell me, it’s cute, I wanna play” She poked at his neck and he groaned with displeasure at each touch.

 

“N-neko atsume” Kyoutani tried to will the blush of embarrassment off his face, but his willpower didn’t seem to be working.

 

“I’m gonna download it right now” Aki pulled her phone out and began searching for the app.

 

Kyoutani rolled his eyes and closed the app. _Well… guess we can just bond over cats._

 

Aki patted him on the head has she left the living room and sauntered back to the kitchen. When dinner was ready, she brought the food to the living room and placed it on the coffee table, turning on the tv.

 

“Want to watch a movie?” She suggested as she looked over at her son.

 

Kyoutani nodded as he picked up his soup.

 

“What kind?”

 

Kyoutani shrugged, not really caring since he probably wasn’t going to pay too much attention.

 

“Alright, then I’m picking!” The minute those words left her mouth, Kyoutani was already starting to regret this.

 

She put on some sappy romantic drama that had her in tears by halfway through. Kyoutani couldn’t count on his hands how many times he’s rolled his eyes. He overall deemed the movie as stupid, but it was nice time spent with his mom. He felt he still needed to say things to her, to talk something out, but for now he was content with just letting things work out slowly, there was no rush.

 

Kyoutani went to sleep that night feeling as though a slight weight has been lifted from his shoulders.

 

***

Over the next couple of days Kyoutani’s cold lessened up and he was practically back to normal. The skin under his cast has began to itch like no other and he’s never felt a greater need to wash one part of his body. He didn’t go outside much, it was cold and it was not like he had any friends in his hometown. The few times he went outside was to take out the trash while his mom was at work and to go to the convenient store at the end of the block to get some more snacks.

 

It was a Friday evening, and Kyoutani was chilling on the couch like he had been the entire time he’s been here. By seeing what time it was, his mom would be home soon so Kyoutani took it upon himself to clean up the living area and kitchen a bit before she got back. At about seven he heard a couple knocks at the door and he looked away from the dishes he was currently washing and focused his gaze on the door.

 

_Did mom forget her keys?_

 

Kyoutani made his way to the door, opening it without bothering to look through the eye-hole. The person on the other side of the door was very much not his mom. In fact it was a man, who as far as Kyoutani knows is a complete stranger. The man looked just as confused to see Kyoutani as Kyoutani was to see him. He was tall, way taller than both Kyoutani and his mother. He had dark wavy hair and some stubble. He was dressed in a nice blazer with slacks and dress shoes. Kyoutani quirked a brow as he looked him up and down. He didn’t look like he was fully Japanese either, probably mixed.  

 

“Um, you lost?” Kyoutani managed to say, seeing as he couldn’t just stay silent in this situation.

 

“Oh, no” The man said, snapping out of whatever stupor he was in. “Is Yamada Aki here?”

 

_The fuck? Is this moms sutor or someshit…_

 

“Still at work” Kyoutani grumbled.

 

“O-oh. You must be her son, right? She told me you were visiting” The man chuckled awkwardly.

 

“So what do you want?” Kyoutani said, probably a bit too harshly. His eyes were trained on the older man, glare unrelenting.

 

The man fidgeted awkwardly under his stare before speaking up again. “Well, I was going to take your mother out to dinner to-”

 

“Jun! Sorry, got held back at work” Aki jogged up to the entrance, slightly out of breath.

 

“Oh it’s no worries” The man, now known as Jun, replied with a smile.

 

Kyoutani didn’t know what it was, but there was just something he didn’t like about Jun. It could just be his wariness from the past, remembering the types of men his mom used to associate with. His stare never left the other man, as if he looked away for a moment that he’d do something horrible to his mother.

 

“I see you’ve become acquainted with my son. Kentarou it’s freezing why didn’t you let him in?” Aki scolded, jolting Kyoutani out of his thoughts.

 

Kyoutani shrugged wordlessly and turned to go back into the house, leaving the door open for them to come in. He didn’t really want to talk to this Jun person, so he chose to go back to his room. He could hear his mom try and get him to come back to properly meet the guy but he just blocked it out.

 

He laid quietly on his bed, not bothering to turn on the lights, as he listened in on their conversation.

 

“ _I’m sorry about him… this visit home just has been a lot, for both of us”_

 

“ _It’s fine, don’t worry about it. If he doesn’t want to be around me right now, I understand that”_

 

Kyoutani cringed at how sickeningly sweet Jun’s voice sounded. He hated that he couldn’t tell if the man was being honest or lying to her. Kyoutani grabbed his pillow and put it over his head, realizing that he didn’t really want to hear them anymore.

 

After a couple seconds he heard soft knocking on his door, followed by his moms voice.

 

“Hey sweetie. We’re going to head out to dinner, there’s food in the fridge if you haven’t eaten yet….” There was a slight pause before she continued, her voice quieter this time, “Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine mom” Kyoutani replied, loud enough for her to hear.

 

He listened quietly as her foot steps got farther from the door, and then joined by another pair of footsteps, he listened as the two of them left.

  
“I’ll be fine…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda short but here it is! idk what im doing anymore ha hhaha h a


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> end of family fun times

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just wanted to get Kyoutani's stay with his mom over with so this is kinda rushed and a mess but here ya go!

          A couple days went by after Kyoutani had first met Jun, and each day following he could see Jun trying to weasel his way into Kyoutani’s life. Jun seemed like a nice guy, but Kyoutani just couldn’t do it. He didn’t want to deal with anything in his mother’s love life, as long as she was okay, Kyoutani couldn’t really care less. Honestly, if his mom was the same as she was back when he was in highschool, he still wouldn’t care. His empathy towards his mother was always back and forth. He wanted her to be happy and safe after always seeing her in pain, but at other times he felt great apathy towards her for all the things she made him deal with in the past. Overall, Kyoutani was having a nonstop concoction of emotions during his stay here and he was relieved that he only had one more day until he left back to the apartment. 

 

Jun was coming by the house more and more, and it seemed like his mother was just going to blatantly ignore Kyoutani’s request not to see the older man. They even had an argument over it two nights back and Kyoutani could’ve sworn it looked like his mother wanted to hit him. But she didn’t. There was still lingering tension in the house, Kyoutani becoming even more irritated the more Jun was there. 

 

On a good note, Kyoutani was finally over his cold and has gotten used to his cast and walking around with crutches. However, he didn’t like how it still limited him. He couldn’t just leave the house and go on walks and come back at late hours. He tried that once after the argument he had with his mom, but his limbs quickly began to ache and when he returned after an hour he just got yelled at more about how dangerous it is to walk around at night while in the condition he’s in. One of the only things that really helped him get through being back with his mom were the numerous text conversations with Yachi and reading through the stupid group chat Hinata made. Another thing was that on weekdays his mom was usually at work, leaving Kyoutani home alone most of the time. Although, on this particular day it seemed like Kyoutani didn’t have that luxury. 

 

Kyoutani was watching some stupid superhero movie and lounging on the couch when he heard someone knock on the door. Every part of him wanted to believe that it was just some package getting delivered, but with the frequent visits from Jun he highly doubted that. Kyoutani sat on the couch, deeply contemplating just ignoring it and acting as if no one’s home. But as the knocks continued Kyoutani let out a deep sigh, getting up from the couch and waddling over to the door, and swung open the door. To no one’s surprise, Jun was standing on the other side of the door, stupid overly-happy smile placed on his stupid face. 

 

Kyoutani stayed quiet, giving Jun a questioning stare. 

 

“Um, hey. How’s your injury?” Jun asked. 

 

“Fine… don’t you have a job or somewhere else to be?” Kyoutani said bitterly. 

 

“Ah, I got the day off and your mom asked me to come by and see how you’re doing” Jun admitted, raising a few grocery bags as he spoke, “I brought some food and snacks as well”

 

Kyoutani looked at the bags then over at the fridge that was getting emptier by the day. Kyoutani let out a grunt as he moved from the doorway and back to the couch, leaving the door open so that Jun could come in. 

 

Kyoutani heard him say a quiet thanks as he entered the home and started putting groceries away. Kyoutani didn’t want to think about it, but he hated how the guy already knew where everything went in the kitchen as if he’s lived here for so long. There was just something about it that overall just irked him. 

 

Without even looking at the other man, Kyoutani could feel that he was lingering in the house. It was extremely awkward and Kyoutani wanted this to end. 

 

“So… what’re you watching” Jun spoke up, leaning on the back of the couch. 

 

Kyoutani turned his head to glare at Jun before he spoke, “look, you dropped off some groceries and you checked up on me and I’m fine. Don’t you have anything better to do than bother the son of the woman you’re fucking?” 

 

Kyoutani laughed to himself as he saw Jun’s eyes widen in shock at what he had said.

 

Jun’s expression turned to a more serious one as he replied, “you shouldn’t talk about your mother like that”

 

Kyoutani rolled his eyes and brought his attention back to the movie. “Whatever, are you leaving or what?”

 

“Well since you’re not  _ blatantly _ kicking me out” Jun said as he rounded the couch and sat at the other end. 

 

Kyoutani groaned as the other man sat down, “Honestly, how is this fun for you? Is my mom coming home early or something and you’re waiting for her?”

 

“Ah, no I believe she’s getting out at her usual time” Jun said, eyes focused on the movie. 

 

“Then what the fuck? It’ll be like three hours until she comes home, can you just leave?” Kyoutani was getting more and more impatient, his irritation showing in his voice. 

 

“What is it that you have against me?” Jun asked, glancing over at Kyoutani. 

 

“You’re annoying” Kyoutani growled out, not really wanting to continue having this talk. 

 

“Really? That’s it? It has to be more than just that” Jun teased, letting out a laugh. 

 

Kyoutani was doing everything in his power to not yell. Without saying anything he got up off the couch and grabbed his crutches, heading back to his room. He hated how he felt like he had to hide away in his room while some guy who wasn’t even part of his family made himself completely comfortable in their home. Well, this wasn’t technically  _ his  _ home, it was his mom's, but still. He felt just like he had in highschool. Never feeling completely comfortable to just be home, either hiding in his room or being left to the care of his neighbors. The fact that this same feeling was resurfacing even now made Kyoutani want to bite Jun’s head off. 

 

He heard Jun mumble things about him as he left, and he originally planned not to lash out at the other man but after he heard him mutter “weird ass kid” in a tone that just turned Kyoutani red, he completely lost it. 

 

“Can you fucking not?!” Kyoutani yelled, turning around to face the older man. “I don’t want to have to deal with you and your snide remarks. I don’t fucking care how close you are to my mom but I, personally, don’t want you in my fucking life! So just fucking leave! Go to some stupid ass cafe or something and wait for my mom there, but get the fuck out of my hair and don’t even try to create some kind of relationship between us because it’s not going to happen!” Kyoutani’s face was red as he huffed out an angry breath. 

 

He stared down at the man on the couch, Jun’s eyes widened in shock before his expression changed to a more rigid one. 

 

“You know, you’re mom told me a bit about her past with you… Maybe she wasn’t completely wrong to hit a brat like you” Jun’s words left his mouth like venom, and Kyoutani could’ve sworn he saw red. 

 

It felt like his body was moving on his own and he couldn’t even stop himself from lashing out at Jun with his crutch. Jun yelled as Kyoutani’s crutch smacked his shin, the older man grabbing onto the crutch before Kyoutani could retract it. He pulled the crutch from Kyoutani causing him fall, letting out a pained yelp as he hit the floor, landing awkwardly on his broken leg. 

 

“You’re fucking crazy” Jun spat out through gritted teeth as he threw the crutch down next to Kyoutani and left. 

 

Kyoutani stayed on the floor for awhile, listening to the front door open and slam close. He laid there quietly, letting the pain in his leg subside, thoughts running rapidly through his head. He could feel his throat start to close and tears begin to prick at the edges of his eyes, but he didn’t let them fall. He pushed himself up from the floor and made his way back to his room. He felt panicked in the small space, so he reached for his phone, wallet, and jacket and left. 

 

His leg still ached from the fall, but he was only going to the park that was nearby, so it wasn’t a long walk. He tried to keep his head clear until he sat down on a bench in a secluded area in the park. He let out a sigh that ended up sounding more like a choked out sob. The air was cold and crisp and felt nice on his skin. He tried taking a few deep breaths of the fresh air  to calm himself before pulling his phone out. He navigated through his contacts until he landed on Yachi’s name and hit call. He had no idea what she was doing right now or if she was busy, but he just needed someone right now, he needed her. 

 

“ _ Hey! Kyoutani, what’s up! Not often that you call” _ Yachi greeted, her enthusiastic tone bringing a small smile to his face. 

 

“Not much… just wanted to talk” Kyoutani said, hoping he didn’t sound as awful as he felt.

Yachi paused for a while on the other end before responding, “ _ Is everything alright?”  _ she asked tentatively.  

 

Kyoutani sighed, “Not really to be honest… I-I’m just… having a kind of rough time right now” 

 

“ _ Do you want to talk about it?”  _ Yachi offered, her voice sounding as comforting as ever. 

 

“Not right now, I just wanna talk about… I don’t know, random shit? Something to distract me” Kyoutani picked at his sweatpants as he spoke, looking around to see if he was still alone in this little area of the park. 

 

“ _ Hmm, ok! Oh, something really silly happened a couple days ago! I can’t remember if I texted you about it but-” _

 

Kyoutani got lost in Yachi’s voice, it was so happy and upbeat while rambling on about Hinata accidentally poking open a spiders’ nests when they went to some old bookstore, unleashing a hundred little spider babies that made Lev pass out just from the sight and the store owner screech in displeasure. He listened tentatively to all of Yachi’s anecdotes, letting out a few laughs here and there, and he could feel himself relaxing. 

 

They talked until Kyoutani started to notice the sun go down, the park slowly getting darker and darker. He quickly checked the time and realized his mom would be getting off work soon. 

 

“Don’t mean to interrupt this interesting story of Kageyama getting his foot stuck in a gutter, but I gotta go” Kyoutani said reluctantly. 

 

“ _ Oh! Ok! Hey, you’re coming back soon right?”  _

 

“Yeah, train leaves tomorrow night” Kyoutani balanced his phone between his ear and his shoulder as he stood up. 

 

“ _ Cool! Text me what time you get to the station and me and Hinata will come and pick you up!”  _

 

“Alright, thanks, see ya”

 

Kyoutani tucked his phone back into his pocket and reached for his crutch that was still resting on the bench. He took his time getting back to the house, not in any real rush or want to go back. Luckily, when he did get back no one else was home, which allowed him to go about his business in peace. 

 

He was in the middle of haphazardly packing up his duffle bag when he heard the front door open and closed. By the sound of it, his mom was alone, probably having met with Jun before coming home seeing that she was a couple hours late. 

 

For the rest of the night she left Kyoutani and peace and even at breakfast the next morning things remained peaceful. Kyoutani isn’t sure, but it seemed as though Jun didn’t say anything about their encounter yesterday to his mom, which honestly he’s thankful for. His mom talked about mundane things like the weather and the plans he had for the rest of break. Kyoutani tried to ignore the hollow feeling in his gut as his mom spoke as if Kyoutani’s stay here went smoothly and without a hitch. 

 

On the bright side, Jun hadn’t dropped by at all, and Kyoutani was more than happy with not having to see him on his last day here. 

 

The day went on lazily, mainly consisting of Kyoutani finishing packing his bag. His mom did some cleaning around the house, and he was grateful that he could leave on a somewhat okay note. When the time came, Aki helped Kyoutani loud his things into the car and she took him to the station. The entire ride there was quiet and the silence stayed as she helped him get to the gate. 

 

“It… it was nice having you here” Aki said reluctantly 

 

Kyoutani sighed, not really knowing what to say. He honestly couldn’t say the same so he just nodded, giving his mom an awkward half hug before leaving.

 

Once on the train, Kyoutani felt way more tired than he thought he was. He ended up sleeping for the entire ride back and arrived around 10 pm. He shot Yachi a quick text, saying that he’d be getting off the train soon. She replied with an “ok!” and Kyoutani stuffed his phone away and made his way to get off the train. 

 

As he got off, he could see Hinata and Yachi on the platform, waving excitedly at him. Hinata grabbed his duffle bag and Yachi took his backpack, despite Kyoutani protesting. 

 

“Welcome back, my dude!” Yachi beamed. 

 

Kyoutani felt a smile creep on his face as he walked with his two friends. 

  
“It’s good to be back”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im in my last semester and am dying in the shit show that is my senior thesis so updates will probably be real real slow
> 
> sorry in advanced
> 
> please leave comments & thoughts! <3


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> start of a new semester

          The new semester has finally started and Yachi watched as all of her friends groaned at the thought of having to return to class. Yachi also wished the break could be longer, but she was genuinely excited for the classes she had this semester. And whatever this relationship she had with Kiyoko was, it was going well. She even had another class with her this semester! However, that didn’t stop Yachi from keeping a close eye on Kyoutani. After the phone call she got from him over break, he hasn’t mentioned anything pertaining to his family or how he feels about the situation or anything. Kyoutani looked more tired, he was smiling less (although he didn’t smile much in the first place, but those small smiles he’d try to hide never went unnoticed by Yachi’s eyes), and just overall seemed to be reverting back to his old self. 

 

Now this worried Yachi for two big reasons: 1) he would become a recluse again and shut everyone out, and 2) he’d start getting into fights and recklessly drinking again. To avoid any of these things from happening, Yachi has been sure to text him everyday and has created a list of stupid fun friend dates for her and Kyoutani to do throughout the semester. When Yachi mentioned this to Kyoutani he scrunched his nose and made the cutest icky face, although Yachi’s pretty sure if she ever called the blonde adorable out loud he wouldn’t talk to her for a week. 

 

The first week of classes went by quickly, professors not giving out much homework since it was just the beginning of the semester. Yachi delegated Hinata as her pair of eyes to watch Kyoutani and make sure he went to class. He still had his cast and was due for a checkup at the end of the month, but according to Hinata he seem to be doing fine and was going back to work next weekend. 

 

It was the second week of school and Yachi could already feel the stress coming on. The professor for the marketing class she had with Kiyoko already handed out the sheet for their first project, and the professors in her other classes already started talking about the first essays and tests of the term. On a better note, Kiyoko agreed to be her partner for the project they had in their class, so she had that to look forward to. 

 

Yachi huffed at the thought of all the work that's to come and got ready to make her way to work. Because of her new class schedule, Yachi spent a good portion of her break hassling with her boss to come up with her new shift schedule at the cafe. It was Wednesday afternoon and Yachi had closing shift with one other coworker. 

 

Once clocked in, Yachi quickly put her apron on, washed her hands, and made her way to the front of the store. She was working with her coworker, Sugawara Kōshi. She didn’t know him all too well, seeing as they normally didn’t have shifts together. But Hinata’s talked about him fondly before, so she assumed that they were friends and that he couldn't be a bad person. He’s in the same year as Kiyoko, so maybe they knew each other. Yachi, however, was way too much of an awkward being to ask him that. 

 

“Do you want to start on bar or on register?” Sugawara asked her as she finished tying up the back of her apron.

 

“I’d like to start on bar if that’s alright with you” Yachi replied with a smile. 

 

“Sounds good” Sugawara gave her a thumbs up. 

 

Yachi quietly rearranged and organized the bar to her liking, Sugawara fiddling with the register as he logged out the previous user and signed himself in. 

 

Yachi found herself not really talking to her coworker, the two of them just fiddling with things around the workstation until more customers came in. Sugawara would bring up small conversation topics here and there, making Yachi feel more relaxed before the inevitable rush of students that always comes in the late afternoon. 

 

Sure enough, once the clock hit 3:30pm herds of tired students flooded into the shop. Halfway through the rush, Yachi and Sugawara switched positions, Sugawara being faster and more experienced when it came to making drinks. Luckily, Yachi’s dealt with morning rushes at the cafe enough to be able to handle the register. It’s always a bit overwhelming when only two employees are left to fend for themselves during a rush, but they did it nonetheless. As it died down, they started focusing more on clean-up duties and set up for the people working opening shift. 

 

Yachi sighed, sitting back after having served what seemed like the 100th customer of the day, and began fiddling with all the marker caps until she heard the door chime, signaling that yet  _ another _ customer was here. It’s like she worked in a functioning store or something. Ridiculous. However, she wasn’t entirely too displeased with seeing this customer in particular. 

 

“Hey, Yama! The usual?” Yachi perked up. 

 

“Yes please” Yamaguchi smiled tiredly. 

 

“Hey Yachi, could you take care of this one by yourself? I’m gonna head to the back to work on some stuff for closing” Sugawara spoke up, wiping a few things off the counter before untying his apron.

 

“Yep!” Yachi smiled at Sugawara as he slipped into the back. 

 

Yachi slid over to the bar after putting a cinnamon bun to toast for Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi made his way over to the bar, setting his book bag down on the floor and resting his arms on the counter. 

 

“How’s the start of the semester been?” Yachi asked while fixing his drink. 

 

“I already want to die” Yamaguchi said with a huff

 

“Really? That bad already?” Yachi rolled her eyes. 

 

“Shut up, you know what I mean” Yamaguchi chuckled. 

 

Yachi finished off the drink and handed it over to Yamaguchi, along with his cinnamon bun. 

 

“How’ve you been? Had a fun break?” Yamaguchi asked, taking a tentative sip of his drink.

 

“I’ve been okay! Honestly, all the oncoming work from school is lowkey scaring the shit out of me” Yachi laughed nervously. 

 

“Sshhh, I believe in you. And break?” Yamaguchi took a bite of his cinnamon bun, honestly looking like he needed the sugar to wake him up. 

 

“It was fun! Kind of stressful. So you know how me and hinata and a bunch of people went snowboarding and skiing right? Well, Kyoutani ended up breaking his leg while we were up there and that was a bit stressful.” Yachi paused in her cleaning of the syrup bottles and sighed. “And there’s just been a few other things on my mind in general”

 

“Uh oh” Yamaguchi said with a smirk. 

 

“What?” Yachi huffed, looking over at him. 

 

“What kind of things? What’s got you worrying?” Yamaguchi prodded. 

 

“Hnngghrhgbb” Yachi stretched, groaning at Yamaguchi’s questions. 

 

“Nice sounds” Yamaguchi said, tone thick with sarcasm. 

 

“Thanks” Yachi said with a smile. 

 

“Anyway… these things on your mind?” Yamaguchi brought them back to the topic at hand.

 

“Urg” Yachi started with a sigh, “It’s kind of pertaining to Kyoutani, I’m just worried about him in general. And I won’t disclose 'why' since he told me not to talk to anyone about it, and I’m not an asshole!”

 

“Fair” Yamaguchi nodded. 

 

“And then I’ve also been thinking about me and Kiyoko and like… what  _ are _ we?” Yachi looked up, as if she was questioning the gods. 

 

Yamaguchi laughed, causing Yachi to look back at her friend with a frown.

 

“Do you laugh at my pain?” Yachi said overdramatically. 

 

“Always”

 

“Rude!” Yachi bunched up a napkin and threw it at him, the ball hitting him softly on the nose. 

 

“Wow, you really serious about her?” Yamaguchi said, his smile becoming more sincere. 

 

“Y-yeah… I  _ think _ she likes me back, but I can’t really tell, and I just” Yachi groaned, throwing her head back dramatically. “She’s just so amazing” Yachi said quietly but with a lot of emotion. 

 

“I think things will work out. At least from what you’ve told me so far” Yamaguchi rested his head on his hand, smiling at her genuinely. 

 

“A-anyway” Yachi cleared her throat. “How’ve things with Tsukishima been?”

 

“I don’t know what you mean” Yamaguchi said, feigning innocence. 

 

The door jingled, signaling that a new customer was here. Yachi gave Yamaguchi a pointed look before returning to the register to fill the customer's order. After she finished with their drink she made her way back over to Yamaguchi. 

 

“Nice deflect, bud, but not gonna work” Yachi waggled her brows at him, causing him to roll his eyes. “Sooo~?”

 

Yamaguchi blushed and rubbed a hand over his face. “Fine… I guess. We haven’t really been talking about the ‘status’ of our relationship, but we cuddle a lot… and make out sometimes” 

 

Yachi made a perfect ‘O’ shape with her mouth, eyes sparkling as she stared at her friend. 

 

“...Please stop looking at me like that”

 

“Sorry! But that’s so great!” Yachi slapped the sides of her face and smiled at her friend. “But you guys totally need to talk it out, okay? I know we’ve known Tsukishima for some time and I don’t  _ think _ he would do anything bad,  _ buuuut _ I just don’t want you to get hurt. I’ll fight him myself if he so dares”

 

Yamaguchi let out a laugh, shaking his head. 

 

“I don’t think that’ll happen, but yeah I agree… I gotta talk it out with him.”

 

“Soon” Yachi reinforced. 

 

“Yes, soon” Yamaguchi reassured her.

 

Yamaguchi stayed around for a bit longer, doing homework and keeping Yachi company as she cleaned up the bar and register area, doing various tasks for closing. About an hour before closing, they said their goodbyes and Yamaguchi headed home, apparently he had a study date with Tsukishima. 

 

The rest of closing went smoothly, besides another small herd of customers coming in thirty minutes before closing. Yachi sighed and stretched after finally putting her apron away, grabbing her belongings and making her way to the front to lock up the door with Sugawara. 

 

After saying their goodbyes, Yachi pulled out her phone as she headed to the station. She noticed she had new messages from Hinata. 

 

**Hinata [6:00pm]:** hey ummm i know u don’t get off from work for like another hour or so buuut i dont think kyoutani is ok??? 

 

**Hinata [6:30pm]:** ohpppp yeAH He took a lot of pain killers i think... plz come over yachi

 

Yachi stared at her phone, trying to compute the information she was just given. 

 

**Yachi [7:30pm]:** WTF/?? DOES HE NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL? CALL AN AMBULANCE????

 

**Hinata [7:30pm]:** ITS CHILL HE OK NOW

 

**Yachi [7:31pm]:** ??!?!?!? R U SURE?? IM COMING OVER

 

**Hinata [7:33pm]:** YES. OKAY

 

Yachi quickly pocketed her phone, and ran to switch train platforms, seeing as ‘home’ wasn’t the destination she was going for right now. She got to the correct platform, standing there panting slightly from having rushed over and thought up about a million horrible situations Kyoutani could’ve gotten himself into. 

 

Once the trained arrived Yachi quickly entered, sitting down, left with nothing but her worried thoughts as she silently pleaded for the train to go faster. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow been some months since i last update haaaaaa... i planned to try and at least update monthly and that kind of failed
> 
> anyway! here's the newest chapter and i wrote like half of it in a not very clear state of mind so let me know if there are any big spelling or grammar errors~
> 
> please leave thoughts & comments <3 much appreciated


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably like the shortest chapter i've written for this fic but here it is! 
> 
> ill try n make the next update longer

          Yachi rang the apartment's doorbell probably more times than she should have, but Hinata’s texts concerning Kyoutani had put her way on edge. The door opened, showing a very disgruntled Kageyama and Hinata jumping around in the background. Without saying anything Kageyama stepped out of the doorway, letting Yachi into the apartment. 

 

“Where is he?” Yachi said, still panting a bit from rushing over here. 

 

Yachi’s eyes scanned the living room and she saw Kyoutani sitting on the couch with a dopey smile on his face. 

 

“Wuz good” Kyoutani said, waving weakly at her. 

 

“See he’s fine! Sorry for worrying you” Hinata sputtered out, moving to stand next to Yachi. 

 

“Are you  _ sure _ he’s fine? His eyes tell me otherwise” Yachi narrowed her eyes, giving Kyoutani an analytical stare. 

 

He-man was on TV and Kyoutani sat on the couch with his injured leg propped up on a stool. He had various snacks on the seat next to him on the couch along with a bottle of water. 

 

“I’m fine Yachi, I can take care of myself” Kyoutani waved her off. “I just… may or may not be high on painkillers” 

 

He muttered the last part, but Yachi’s ears still caught it. 

 

“You  _ what? _ ” Yachi gaped. 

 

“It’s not that big of a deal, he’s injured, let it be” Kageyama said while he rummaged through the kitchen for something to eat. 

 

“But, aren’t those things easy to get addicted to?!” She gave Kageyama and incredulous look despite the taller boy facing away from her. “Are you okay? Why’d you get high off of painkillers?” Her gaze shifted back to Kyoutani. 

 

“I’m  _ fiiiine _ . I just felt like it, okay?” Kyoutani continued to stare lazily at the TV, not fully looking Yachi in the eyes. 

 

Yachi stared at him for a bit before deciding to stay her for a couple hours to keep an eye on Kyoutani. She sat next to him on the couch, choosing to not speak about this until Kyoutani was sober and willing to. That is if he’d ever be willing to. Yachi was watching the old cartoon on the screen but her mind was buzzing with a million thoughts.  _ I thought he wasn’t going to do things anymore… Did his time with his mom trigger this? What if he gets back into his old habits? Why can’t I make him comfortable enough for him to rely and confide in me? Am I being a bad friend? I just want him to be okay… _

 

“Yachi” Kyoutani’s voice snapped Yachi out of her thoughts. She turned her head to look at her friend. 

 

“Stop worrying... I can basically feel you thinking” Kyoutani said quietly. “I don’t wanna talk about it now but… later I’ll explain myself, okay?” Kyoutani looked at her briefly, giving her a small smile before he turned his attention back to the TV. 

 

“Okay” Yachi replied in the same quiet manner, nodding her head slightly and feeling more at ease. 

 

They spent the rest of the evening watching different silly old cartoons and giggling with each other (and yes Yachi swears Kyoutani was giggling). Yachi continued to make sure Kyoutani was hydrated, fed, and comfortable, helping him with his cast when his leg got itchy underneath it and what not. When Kyoutani started to sober up, he didn’t bother doing any homework (if he had any) and just mumbled something about going to bed. After they said their goodbyes (and Yachi checking if he was okay for like the millionth time), Yachi headed home, noticing that it was already past 10pm. 

 

On the train ride home Yachi groaned, thinking about all the unfinished homework she had. Even with Kyoutani’s ‘promises’ to open up and talk to her, she still had this feeling as if he was just saying this things to appease her. Yachi shook her head, knowing that her nerves were getting the best of her. 

  
Kyoutani said he’d open up when he was ready, and Yachi just had to be patient and there for him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i've just kinda been riffin it now and don't really know what im doing with this fic and i have zero plan or idea of what i am doing so yeah
> 
> please leave thoughts & comments <3


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> back to kyoutani's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! didn't really proof read this so pls let me know of any huge errors/typos

Kyoutani felt weird being back at the apartment to say the least. It wasn’t a bad weird, but just  _ weird _ . After visiting his mom and finding out all these new things about her life,  _ Jun _ , and then just returning back to his normal college life was jarring to say the least. Nobody knew what happened, the complications between him and his mother staying as internalized as ever. It felt surreal and Kyoutani couldn’t really understand what he was feeling. He felt like he was detached from his own body, watching himself do his normal daily things, getting back into the swing of school, etc. He didn’t know if he was noticeably acting any different than before, but seeing as his roommates haven’t acted any different in how they approach him he assumed he wasn’t.  He wasn’t entirely sure what was happening in his classes during the first weeks of the semester; he absentmindedly took notes and jotted down things that seemed important for homework. He was also due to go back to work this weekend, his boss sticking him on register duty since he couldn’t really move around much with his leg.

 

As the week went on Kyoutani gradually got more irritated at himself for feeling so numb, so  _ obviously _ that made him do something that he probably shouldn’t do. He knows mixing painkillers with alcohol was a bad idea so he didn’t even consider that, but what harm would it do to take more painkillers than he should? (Technically he didn’t even need the painkillers anymore, but the doctor prescribed him way more than necessary so he wasn’t just gonna let all those extra pills go to waste.) It was probably a bad idea seeing that it was a Wednesday and that Kyoutani half-assed his homework and should really go back and re-do it but... fuck it. 

 

After taking a higher dose that what’s needed, Kyoutani took a shower, not wanting to have to deal with his cast in the shower after the high kicked in, and made himself something to eat. He joined Hinata and Lev in the living room, watching whatever stupid show they were watching as he ate. Once he finished eating and cleaning up his dishes Kyoutani suddenly felt 10 times weirded. Yep. There it is. Kyoutani let out a small giggle after fully realizing how high he just suddenly became, and to say the least, his giggle shocked his roommates more than he thought. 

 

“What you gigglin’ at?” Lev smirked, moving closer to Kyoutani.

 

“ ‘Nuffin” Kyoutani mumbled, dopey smile not leaving his face. 

 

“Oh my god, I don’t know what’s wrong with you but this is hilarious” Lev clutched his sides as he started laughing.

 

Kyoutani just shrugged him off, grabbed some water, and re-joined Hinata on the couch. The smaller boy stared at Kyoutani instead of the tv, causing Kyoutani to shift his gaze towards Hinata. 

 

“Yes?” Kyoutani said

 

“Uwah!” Hinata exclaimed, leaning closer. “Why are your pupils so big, are you okay?” Hinata questioned him while fiddling with his phone. 

 

“ ‘s fine, just shut up and watch… whatever this is” Kyoutani gestured lazily at the TV, which was now playing He-man. 

 

From here on out Kyoutani couldn’t really control the things he was saying. He knew he was making stupid comments about Skeletor, relating the villain to Kageyama, much to Lev’s amusement and Hinata’s concerns (despite the smol boy stifling his laughter and Kageyama hitting him and Lev upside the head). At some point Hinata admitted to worry-texting Yachi about Kyoutani’s current state, to which Kyoutani just flat out admitted to being high on painkillers which caused Lev to laugh more and earned a stern-mom look from Hinata. 

 

Once Yachi arrived, Kyoutani could feel the concern radiating off of her, making him let out a small laugh. He could hear her voice from the door, obviously out of breath from rushing over here. Once she fully entered the living room, Kyoutani smiled and waved at her.

 

“Wuz good”

 

Hinata started babbling before Kyoutani could say anything else to Yachi, something about him really being ‘all right’. Kyoutani didn’t really get it but he just shrugged it off and continued to watch he-man. Yachi joined him on the couch, staring at him every now and a then, he didn’t really pay it any mind. And of course, then followed the probing questions about his current state and Kyoutani just ended up telling Yachi about him being high on painkillers, which she wasn’t too stoked about. After that Yachi continued to chill with them. Kyoutani could tell she was still worried, and he did his best to reassure him and made a hard mental note to make an effort at opening up more to his friend. He really was grateful for her, he just had a hard time showing it and just generally had trouble relying on people especially when it came to emotional shit. Shortly after Yachi left, Kyoutani decided to just go to bed and sleep off the rest of his high. 

 

For the rest of the week Kyoutani continued to float in and out of ‘reality’, this weird estranged feeling never really leaving him, even after he decided to get high on painkillers. He knew doing that more than once in the week wasn’t a good idea since addiction is a thing that happens, so he threw that idea for coping out of the window. Kyoutani was honestly amazed at his ability to take notes without even knowing what the fuck was happening. It wasn’t like this was the first time something like this has happened, the weird feeling of being a third party, watching your own body go through life without being in control, but it’s been quite a while since he’s felt like this. 

 

As the week ended and Saturday began, Kyoutani hoped going back to work would maybe put this episode of whatever-the-fuck this was to an end. Maybe the change in scenery would help. But nope. Once he got into work and talked briefly with his boss, he still felt estranged from his body. He apparently wasn’t glaring as much as he usually does, his face just resting on a blank expression. Iwaizumi had to wave his hand a couple of times in front of his face to catch his attention during their shift. 

 

Kyoutani had a morning to mid-day shift to day, all of it being stationed at the register. At first he didn’t have a problem with this, but seeing as how he hasn’t really been himself lately, it was even harder than normal to interact with customers. At noon he and Iwaizumi got their breaks and Kyoutani was more than happy to get some time away from people. Once in the break room, Kyoutani sat down, closing his eyes, and rubbed a hand over his face. 

 

“Hey, you alright” Iwaizumi asked as he entered the room.

 

Kyoutani just grunted in response. 

 

Iwaizumi chuckled at his response and grabbed a chair, pulling it next to Kyoutani, and sat down. 

 

“What’s up?” Iwaizumi patted his back lightly. 

 

Kyoutani shrugged not really knowing what to say. “I don’t know… just haven’t really been feeling myself”

 

Iwaizumi cocked his head, idly scrolling through his phone “How so?”

 

“Well..” Kyoutani sighed, “I just… I feel detached from my body? And numb? I don’t know this sounds stupid”

 

Iwaizumi’s attention was now back on Kyoutani, his stare alone urging Kyoutani to continue. 

 

Kyoutani sighed again before beginning. “I just.. Some upsetting things happened when I visited home and I’ve just felt very weird after? Like..” Kyoutani’s mouth twisted as he tried to figure out the right words to describe whatever he felt. He definitely was not versed in articulating his feelings. 

 

“Ugh..” he buried his face in his hands, but still continued to talk. “It’s like I’m looking at myself from afar… I don’t even know how my body is moving on its own it’s like I’m on autopilot and it feels weird and reality is just weird and at moments it feels suffocating like the pressure from being underwater…” Kyoutani could feel the words catch in his throat and didn’t even notice that he was starting to tear up. That was his queue to stop talking about his feelings because he was not about to cry in front of Iwaizumi of all people. He didn’t even plan to spill this much to him. 

 

When he lifted his head from his hands he saw Iwaizumi staring at him, concerned expression on his face. 

 

“Um Kyoutani?” He started.

 

“Fuck sorry, was that oversharing?” Kyoutani sputtered, feeling embarrassed. 

 

“No! I’m glad you told me… but I think what you’re describing is a dissociative episode” Iwaizumi said calmly. 

 

“A.. what? There’s a word for this?” Kyoutani asked, probably looking very obviously confused seeing as he got a chuckle out of Iwaizumi.

 

“Yes there is. Oikawa is a psychology major and I remember him mentioning it while he was studying for an exam. I don’t know much on the subject but it might be worth researching, you might find some good ways on how to deal with it” 

 

“O-okay..” Kyoutani fiddled with his hands, thinking over what Iwaizumi had just said. 

 

“You know, you can always talk to me if something’s bothering you” Iwaizumi patted Kyoutani’s back softly again. 

“Uh, t-thanks… I don’t really wanna be a bother to you though…” Kyoutani mumbled. 

 

“Nonsense, this is what friends are for right?” Iwaizumi smiled over at him. 

 

“R-right…” Kyoutani smiled slightly, feeling a bit awkward after sharing that much with the other man. 

 

Welp if he could somehow find it in him to randomly share his emotions with Iwaizumi, it’d probably be only easier to share them with Yachi. (Which he had to do sometime soon)

Kyoutani sent out a quick text to Yachi before his break ended, letting her know that he was ready to talk to her about whatever mess his head was in right now. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and pocketed his phone as he stood to make his way out of the break room, his head feeling a bit clearer. 

 

Now all he needed was for there to be minimum costumers for the rest of his shift. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anotha update! this ones a bit longer than the last 
> 
> big bro iwaizumi coming in with that clutch wisdom --- kyoutani is a sad boi and is starting to realize that talking about his feelings with his friends isn't that bad afterall 
> 
> please leave comments & thoughts! <3


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i totally forgot to mention that for their school system / semester system im basing it off of the american education system (specifically how my colleges semester system kinda worked) - i totally didn't realize that I had this all set in japan yet was not using their school system so I thought id let you guys kno that! 
> 
> also wow look i finally updated lol i had such big writers block and was swamped finishing up my last semester of college!
> 
> anyway hope you guys enjoy cuz i have no idea whats going on with this fic anymore

          A couple weeks have gone by after Kyoutani’s talk with Iwaizumi. In those few weeks he researched a bit more about dissociative episodes and things to do to help get oneself out of said episode. He also finally had ‘the talk’ with Yachi while they were studying together one evening. Of course, Kyoutani thought Yachi was being overdramatic, especially when he told her about the shit with Jun, but he was overall glad that he told her. She also offered to help him with his recurring dissociative episodes and so far whenever he had them with her around they’d end up coloring or drawing or watched a documentary to slowly coax Kyoutani back to reality. Kyoutani’s leg was also getting better. He had a check up with his doctor and they changed his cast for a newer cleaner one and said after about two more months he’d be fully healed.

 

With only being a month into the semester, Kyoutani and practically everyone he knew were extremely ready for spring break. Hinata was jumping all over the apartment already yelling about plans for spring break. If weather permit, Hinata wanted all of them to go to the beach for a day or two. Kyoutani’s leg is supposed to be all healed up by then and he was secretly very excited at the chance of playing beach volleyball with everyone. He even thought about inviting Iwaizumi and his friends. However it’s still only February and the weather’s still harsh and cold, spring break not being till April.

 

Kyoutani wrapped his jacket tightly around him as he made his way across campus. He was having lunch with Yachi and Kiyoko today and said he’d meet them in the arts building since they were still there working on some graphic design thing. Before he got to the building, Kyoutani saw a tuft of hair that looked oddly familiar. He continued staring at the man whom the hair belonged to and couldn’t quiet place a finger on where he knew this guy. As soon as the mans eyes caught his a lightbulb went off in his head.

 

_It’s Oikawa’s mini-me… what the fuck is he doing here._

 

Before Kyoutani could just straight up ignore the eye contact that just happened and rush into the building, the man spoke up.

 

“Well if it isn’t the mad dog” He said with a displeased expression.

 

Kyoutani chose to glare at him instead of using his words.

 

“What? You like what you see?”

 

_God he’s just as annoying as actual Oikawa… what even was his name again?_

 

The man frowned at him after a while and let out a sigh. “Do you even remember me? You haven’t been coming to our weekend matches lately” He looked from Kyoutani’s face down to his injured leg and back up again.

 

“Uh yeah… you’re....” Kyoutani looked around, feeling awkward and kind of embarrassed for not knowing his name. Not his fault if he didn’t bother to remember the names of the people who annoyed him.

 

“Yahaba” He said tersely.

 

“Right” Kyoutani nodded, still feeling just as awkward.

 

“Couldn’t even remember my name, yet you were glaring holes into my head not too long ago” Yahaba smirked.

 

“Shut-” Kyoutani growled, but his words were interrupted by the arts building door swinging open.

 

“Kyoutani!” Yachi beamed, “we thought you ditched us for a second”

 

“Oh, sorry” Kyoutani turned to face her, his expression softening.

 

Kiyoko came out soon after. “Are you ready for lunch?” She asked as she moved to stand next to Yachi.

 

“And how did someone who is made up of 90% hot air have the pleasure of going to lunch with such beauties?” Yahaba said, charming smile replacing the shit-eating smirk that was once there.

 

Yachi blushed and tried to answer but she was stammering too much, so Kiyoko answered in her place.

 

“He happens to be a good friend of ours. Are you an acquaintance of his?” She said politely.

 

“No” Kyoutani cut in before Yahaba could answer.

 

“Wow, rude. I guess all those grueling weekends playing volleyball together meant nothing” Yahaba said dramatically. “He even couldn’t remember my name! And here I was thinking all of our fights on the court meant something to you”

 

“What are you even doing here?” Kyoutani said through gritted teeth.

 

“For your information, I am a fashion design student here” Yahaba said matter-of-factly.

 

“Really?” Kiyoko spoke up, looking a bit excited. “Me and Yachi are graphic design and marketing majors” She looked between Yachi and Kyoutani before speaking again, both of them choosing to remain silent. “Would you care to come to lunch with us if you aren’t busy? I’d love to talk design”

 

Yahaba’s eyes twinkled and he got that gross flirty look on his face that was just like Oikawa’s. “Of course, I’d love to join. I won’t be able to stay too long since I have a studio class at 1”

 

“Perfect” Kiyoko smiled. “Oh, and how rude of me, I never introduced myself. I’m Kiyoko Shimizu, and this is Yachi Hitoka” She said gesturing to the small blonde.

 

Yachi made a weird stuttering sound and bowed, causing Kiyoko to giggle.

 

“Pleasure to meet you, I’m Yahaba Shigeru” He said with a blinding smile.

 

Kyoutani groaned at the fact Yahaba was joining them, but if he was going to be wrapped up in a conversation with Kiyoko about design, how bad could it be?

 

 

 

Okay it was bad. After they got a booth in the diner near campus and ordered their food, Yahaba was using the same stupid prince-like charm as Oikawa and Kyoutani honestly wanted to throw up.

 

_How the fuck can someone flirt by talking about their major? Oh god I can’t do this._

 

Kyoutani was the only one at the booth remaining quiet. He had a glare set on his face that only got meaner every time Yahaba spoke. Even Yachi was participating in the conversation more than he was. She would get flustered and stammer every once in awhile when she would get a compliment or flirty remark from Yahaba, but overall their conversation was flowing.

 

Kyoutani wasn’t even really paying attention to the conversation topic since he wasn’t particularly interested in design. He just kept focusing on not smacking Yahaba and trying not to be mad at the fact that the two of them were sharing a booth across from Yachi and Kiyoko.

 

Because of this, he completely missed it when a question was directed at him.

 

“Hello?? Kyoutani?” Yahaba waved a hand in front of his face, gaining in a growl in reply.

 

“Jesus, the more I’m around you the more I understand why Oikawa calls you a mad dog” Yahaba pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at him.

 

Kyoutani opted to stay silent and just stared at him, waiting for him to say as to why he needed his attention.

 

“Anyway” Yahaba let out a nervous cough as he started to get a bit uncomfortable under Kyoutani’s stare. “I asked what your major is”

 

“Oh” Kyoutani said, his expression relaxing. He suddenly fet a bit awkward, seeing as everyone at the table has some sort of path cut out for them except him. Kyoutani still had yet to declare a major, or find something that truly interested him. He mainly used college as a way to get away from home. It was still only freshman year and they had until mid-sophomore year to declare a major, so Kyoutani hadn’t put much thought into it.

 

“I don’t know” He said finally, “Haven’t decided”

 

“You don’t know?” Yahaba said with a scoff.

 

He saw Yachi smile at him reassuringly from across the table before she spoke up.

 

“W-well, sometimes it takes some time for people to find what they’re truly interested in, right? I mean we have until next year to decided so, no pressure!” She laughed nervously.  

 

Kyoutani just nodded, not feeling like talking.

 

For the rest of lunch Kyoutani chose to stay quiet and was content just listening to everyone. He laughed a few times when Kiyoko gave Yahaba really salty replies to his attempts at flirting. Yahaba left promptly at 12:15, saying he needed to do some things before heading to class, leaving just Kiyoko, Yachi and Kyoutani at the table.

 

Yachi was still working on her food (she’s a very slow eater) and Kiyoko was picking at the last of her fries. Kyoutani was long done with his food and strongly considered ordering more. They sat in a comfortable silence, none of them feeling the need to fill it with small talk. After another 15 minutes Kiyoko excused herself, saying she had a meeting to go to. Kyoutani didn’t miss the little hug she gave Yachi before leaving, and he smirked at her from across the table after Kiyoko was gone.

 

“S-shut up” Yachi mumbled, blush evident on her cheeks.

 

Kyoutani lifted his hands defensively. “I didn’t even say anything… yet”

 

“Yeah, well you said enough with your face” Yachi huffed and puffed out her cheeks.

 

Kyoutani chuckled at how ridiculous and pouty she looked, and eventually she let out a laugh herself.

 

“Is Yahaba one of Iwaizumi’s friends from those team building volleyball sessions you’ve been going to? Well not currently ‘cause of your leg” She finally asked.

 

“Yeah, he’s so annoying” Kyoutani huffed.

 

“I think he likes you!” Yachi beamed.

 

Kyoutani gave her a look like she had two heads.

 

“N-not like that, but like as a friend, maybe?” She said quickly.

 

That made Kyoutani look even more confused.

 

“I don’t know where you got that idea from, but okay” Kyoutani said, his expression still twisted in one as if he tasted something really disgusting.

 

Yachi giggled, seemingly thinking his displeasure was funny.

 

“Whatever, lets go before I decid to spend more money” Kyoutani stood up from the booth and made his way to the register at the front of the diner.

 

Yachi smiled and grabbed her stuff, following after him.

 

As they exited into the cold outside air, Yachi spoke up again.

 

“So… have you put any thought into what you might wanna major in?” She prodded.

 

Kyoutani groaned, not really wanting to talk about this. “No.. I don’t know. I don’t even know what I wanna do”

 

“Well, are you taking any classes right now that are particularly interesting to you?” She asked gently.

 

Kyoutani thought for a moment. It was still only the second month of the spring semester and even though classes have picked up their pace, there wasn’t anything that really stuck out to him the most. Well, maybe one class…

 

“I’m taking this botany bio lab and it’s pretty interesting…. There’s also this paleontology class that I’ve been thinking of taking… turns out I’m not half bad at bio” Kyoutani said finally.

 

“Oh! That’s great! If you really like it then maybe you should take some time to look at the requirements and stuff for the major!” Yachi clapped her hands together excitedly.

 

“Yeah… well we’ll see” Kyoutani mumbled, digging his hands in his pockets.

 


	24. Chapter 24

      A week after Kyoutani’s spontaneous lunch with Yahaba and he basically forgot it ever happened. Since Kyoutani wasn’t joining the weekend practices with Iwaizumi, Yahaba wasn’t someone whose presence was recurring in Kyoutani’s life. However, apparently the fashion major told everyone at practice about it since Iwaizumi spent no time reminding him of it when he got to work.

 

“So you had lunch with Yahaba? Didn’t even know you guys went to the same school” Iwaizumi spoke up after the customer he was helping left. 

 

Kyoutani was forever on register duty (until his leg healed) and Iwaizumi was working the floor, but since there weren’t any customers in the store that needed help and everything had been reshelved, he was hanging out with Kyoutani. 

 

Kyoutani rolled his eyes from just thinking about the lunch, “I didn’t know that either. I had lunch with other people and ran into him and he practically invited himself” 

 

Iwaizumi chuckled and patted him on the shoulder, “Well it’s good you two are finally getting along”

 

Kyoutani gave him a puzzled look “But… we aren’t?”

 

“Sure” Iwaizumi smiled and Kyoutani felt so betrayed. “Anyway, since you can’t come to our practices maybe you should join us for dinner sometime now that you’re getting along with Yahaba”

 

“Why do you keep saying that we get along” Kyoutani mumbled.

 

“I’ll text you next time we all go out” Iwaizumi said before heading back out onto the floor as more customers came in.

 

“I am so confused” Kyoutani muttered as he watched Iwaizumi walk away. 

 

***

 

When Kyoutani got off work he planned on just going home and working on homework. After he got back to the apartment he went straight to his room, grunting in acknowledgement when Lev shouted out a greeting as he passed the taller man. Normally he would do his homework out in the living room since that somehow became a routine of his. For some reasons when all his roommates saw him doing homework they decided to jump on board and join him, and honestly it helped improve how all of them were doing in school. But recently Kyoutani had started to feel a bit frustrated from all the social interactions and needed to start having more alone time. 

Once getting all his homework stuff set up in his room, Kyoutani put his phone on silent and focused on his work. He spent a couple of hours finishing up assignments, leaving some half completed since they weren’t due for a couple of days. Despite being hungry, he couldn’t bring himself to go make food since he was too tired and ended up taking a 2 hour nap after putting all his homework away. 

 

Kyoutani awoke to an array of knocks on his door, signalling that more than one person was knocking. He huffed as he got up from his bed and made his way to the door. It was Hinata and Lev.

 

“Hey!” Hinata beamed 

 

Kyoutani remained silent, too tired to hold any kind of conversation. 

 

“S-so we got some take out! We bought a lot since we assumed you’d want some too” Hinata spoke up, getting uncomfortable being under Kyoutani’s silent stare. 

 

“Oh fuck yum” Kyoutani mumbled.

 

Kyoutani joined his roommates and he ate in silence and just listened to the conversation going on around him. Lev was blabbing about some cute dude he met and Hinata was “ooo”-ing and “aah”-ing at all the details. Kageyama was also surprisingly quiet. Kyoutani knew that the dark haired man wasn’t good with words, but he was usually in some sort of verbal quarrel with Hinata. Kyoutani wasn’t going to question it and was going to just enjoy the quarrel free environment for now. 

 

After eating, Kyoutani headed back to his room and checked his phone. Kyoutani stared at the screen in disbelief. How could Yachi send him over 50 messages in the few hours he was away from his phone. 

 

Kyoutani unlocked his phone and looked over some of the messages, making sure that she wasn’t dying or something. And luckily, she wasn’t in any real danger and was just yelling about Kiyoko so he didn’t bother to finish reading all of the messages. 

 

**Kyoutani [9:00pm]:** ok wtf wit all these txts

 

**Yachi [9:00pm]:** hOLY HECK FINALLY U REPLY 

 

**Kyoutani [9:02pm]:** sorry i was doing important stuff like hw and sleeping and eatin

 

**Yachi [9:05pm]:** oK YEAH BUT I WAS HAVING A HEART ATTACK SOOOO

 

**Kyoutani [9:06pm]:** no u werent i skimmed like at least the first 10 messages and it was somethin ridic about kiyoko

 

**Yachi [9:10pm]:** YEAH AND IF YOUU CONTINUED READING YOU’D KNOW THAT SHE FRICKIGNIREANG KISSED ME! ON. THE. LIPPIES

 

**Kyoutani [9:11pm]:** lippies?

 

**Yachi [9:11pm]:** SHUT UP

> YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN

>AAAAAAAAA

 

**Kyoutani [9:15pm]:** can u chill the fuk out

 

**Yachi [9:16pm]:** NO????? SHE KISSED ME, KYOUTANI! WE WERE OUT TO DINNER AND I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA BE LIKE A FRIEND THING ((Evnen thou we aLL know i want this to be a date) aND AT THE END SHE WALKED ME HOME N KISSED ME IN FRONT OF MY APARTMENT AND WAS ALL LIKE oh gee i had a great time teehee this was great aND I DIDNT EVEN SYA ANYTHING I JUST LIKE AHNDFGAHSFG THEN I THINK I MADE A WEIRD SOUND??? SHE GIGGLED IT WAS CUTE AND I RAN INTO MY APAPRTMENT

 

**Kyoutani [9:22pm]:** wow

 

**Yachi [9:23pm]:** is that really all you’re gonna say

 

**Kyoutani [9:24pm]:** um… yes? Idfk isn’t this somethin u wanted? just ask her to be ur wifey or somethin

 

**Yachi [9:26pm]:** im not gonna ask her to be my wifey… but i guess i should maybe ask her out for real now?? on like an official official date

 

**Kyoutani [9:27pm]:** yeet

 

**Yachi [9:30pm]:** y cant u take this seriously

 

**Kyoutani [9:31pm]:** cuz ur life is a joke

 

**Yachi [9:33pm]:** WOW. BLOCKED. DELETED. UNFRIENDED. 

 

**Kyoutani [9:33pm]:** :0

 

**Yachi [9:35pm]:** im gonna take that shocked emoji as ur apology 

 

**Kyoutani [9:36pm]:** whatever helps u sleep better at night

>but really im happy for u it’s obvi tht she likes u just ask her out finally

 

**Yachi [9:40pm]:** thank you and i will! ok im emotinally exhausted so im gonna go to bed, gnight!

 

**Kyoutani [9:41pm]:** night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is on the shorter side, but i hope y'all like it!
> 
> so i have a very loose plot with how some things are gonna play out in this story but honestly ive just been winging it and i'd really liked to know about things that you guys would like to see happen! you can leave suggestions in the comments or send me a message on tumblr! 
> 
> my tumblr: http://animetupac.tumblr.com/


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yachi POV !

     Yachi was the definition of “shook” right now. After the previous night's happenings, she was almost convinced that she imagined the kiss and that it never actually happened and was going to go about her way not mentioning it to Kiyoko. But then Kiyoko, this blessed woman, texted Yachi this morning (WITH A WINKY FACE EMOJI) and asked if Yachi would like to go on a brunch date with her sometime soon. Like a  _ date  _ date. 

 

So currently Yachi was still sitting in bed, staring at her phone in disbelief. Of course after a few seconds she replied to the texts saying she’d love to go on a date. She honestly had no idea what to make of this. 

 

_ Are we dating now? Like… a couple?!?! Or are we just going on cute dates to test the waters? aAAAAH WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS I AM TRULY FUCKING BLESSED RIGHT NOW _

 

Of course, after sitting in disbelief for a few more moments, she immediately text Kyoutani about this new development. 

 

**Yachi [9:30am]:** KYOUTANI I HAVE A DATE WITH KIYOKO

 

**Kyoutani [9:35am]:** yippee

 

**Yachi [9:36am]:** wow i was expecting something more genuine

 

**Kyoutani [9:40am]:** YIPPEE

 

**Yachi [9:41am]:** ok now that’s just scary imagining u yelling yippee is just slightly horrifying

 

**Kyoutani [9:45am]:** good

 

**Yachi [9:50am]:** asdhfkgw why r u like this

 

**Kyoutani [10:00am]:** i can’t answer that but anyway gg u did good kid knock em dead

**Yachi [10:00am]:** thanks, coach

 

Yachi put her phone to charge and finally got up out of bed. She didn’t have any classes today but she did have a closing shift at the cafe today and had to be at work around 1. Yachi had a couple hours to go slowly go through her morning routine (since spacing out for random intervals while thinking about Kiyoko and dating was a completely new addition to this routine) and make something to eat. 

 

After Yachi was ready and the time got closer to 12:30, she left the apartment and made her way to work. Everything was as it usually is except Yachi was more chipper and actually didn’t stutter and spoke confidently with each customer (which her coworker jokingly awarded her a labeling sticker that said “caution: hot” on it). 

 

At around 4 Yachi saw a familiar freckled face walk into the cafe. 

 

“Yamaguchi!” She chirped

 

“And hello to you too” He laughed softly as he approached the register. “What’s got you in such a good mood?”

 

“WELL, if you must ask” Yachi took a dramatic pause before continuing. “I got a date with Kiyoko! And she kissed yesterday!”

 

Yamaguchi’s eyebrows shot up and his mouth made a perfect ‘o’ shape. 

 

“I’m so happy for you! That’s amazing”

 

“I know right!” Yachi giggled. “Soooo, when are  _ you _ gonna put the moves on your beloved Tsukki?”

 

Yamaguchi gave her a blank look “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but ANYWAY wowie looks like I haven’t order so uuuhh I’ll have my usual!”

 

Yamaguchi smiled and handed her the money as she rang him up, Yachi hardcore side eyeing him the entire time. After she finished up getting his pastry and drink, she handed it over to him and continued to silently stare at him as he sat down at the counter. 

 

“Yachi stop looking at me like that” 

 

“No! Tell me! I know you like him, and it kinda seems like he likes you too! You’ve guys been more touchy-feely lately and you cuddled last time we had movie night!”

 

“We didn’t cuddle…”

“You were practically sitting in his lap!” Yachi shot her arms up excitedly, almost knocking all the syrup bottles over. 

 

Yamaguchi huffs and gives Yachi a pointed look. “We’re just.. Taking it slow I guess”

 

Yachi’s ears perked up at this. “Doooeess this mean you guys have talked about this? About your feelings?”

 

Yachi could see a slight blush spread across Yamaguchi’s face. 

 

“Y-yes? Kind of… I feel like there’s more we need to talk about but the conversation has started”

 

“EEEEEE” Yachi squealed, immediately being shushed by her coworker. 

 

“That’s great! Just be patient and things will work out! Look at us go getters” Yachi puffed out her chest in pride making Yamaguchi laugh. 

 

The two of them chatted for awhile in between Yachi helping customers. Yamaguchi didn’t stay around for much longer and left while a particularly large rush of customers came into the little cafe. He waved to Yachi as he was leave, Yachi giving him a nervous smile back. She honestly could never get used to customer rush hours. 

 

After closing up shop, Yachi took out her phone, checking any new messages as she walked to the station. She noticed she had a few from Kiyoko and she really tried to ignore the fluttering feeling in her chest. 

 

**Kiyoko “the goddess” Shimizu [4:00pm]:** Would you be available next week wednesday for a lunch date?

 

**Yachi [7:00pm]:** sorry for the late reply i was at work! I’d love to have lunch then!

 

**Kiyoko “the goddess” Shimizu [7:01pm]:** great! It’s a date ;)

 

Yachi had to control herself from making inhuman screeching sounds on the train, but seriously that winky face was going to be the death of her. 

 

Yachi spent the rest of the short train ride home casually pinching herself and smiling like an idiot every time she realized that this was real, and boy was she happy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wanted to make this chapter longer but ive been so busy and kept putting it off so i just said fuck it and decided to post what i had lol
> 
> moving to another country is hard but ive finally somewhat settled in my new apartment and ill try and update more when i get used to my work routine, etc. 
> 
> hope y'all enjoyed this chapter!


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM BACK FROM THE DEAD  
> Sorry for the long wait for an update the last couple months have been kinda crazy. I moved to Japan in august and have been working here! I've started to get used to my job but it leaves me exhausted everyday so it's been hard to get the motivation to update.
> 
> Hopefully I'll be updating more regularly now lol
> 
> This update is kinda short but I hope y'all like it! (Also I'm posting from my iPad so sorry for any format issues)

   The date. It was happening. And Yachi wasn't ready at all. Yachi was currently standing outside the place they decided to have lunch at. It was a small Indian restaurant but they were notorious for having amazing curry and delicious naan that was bigger than your face. Yachi wasn't great at dealing with spicy food but she was willing to make the sacrifice for Kiyoko. Speaking of, Yachi was currently waiting for said girl, seeing as she got to the place 15 minutes early. Her nerves are what made her so early and to be honest getting there early didn't exactly calm them. She stood outside the restaurant, nervously wringing her hands together and trying not to over think her entire existence.

 

After about 10 minutes of internal panicking, Kiyoko showed up.

 

“Hey” She smiled at Yachi and all words left the blonde girls head.

 

“H-hi! Hey, what's up?” _Smooth, Yachi, Smooth…_

 

Kiyoko giggled and all Yachi could think of was that “this kills the man” meme.

 

“Oh not much, the usual. Shall we go in?”

 

“Y-yes!”

 

Yachi followed Kiyoko as she led the 2 of them inside. Yachi was surprised to find out that Kiyoko actually made a reservation, so they were seated quickly once inside.

 

As they sat down, silently looking over the menu, a million things were running through Yachi’s mind. She was simultaneously very happy and very worried that everything would go wrong and Kiyoko would start hating her and she'd realize she's too good for Yachi. Honestly, the list of things that could go wrong went on for days.

 

“Yachi, have you decided?” Kiyoko’s voice brought Yachi out of her thoughts and she soon realized that she wasn't even focusing on deciding what to eat.

 

“Oh, um… I need a couple more minutes” Yachi blushed.

 

“That's fine. I think I'm going to have the butter chicken curry with a plain naan.”

 

“Mm that sounds good..” Yachi looked at the menu with more focus now, not letting her intrusive thoughts distract her this time. She heard Kiyoko chuckle from across the table. She lifted her head giving her a quizzical look.

 

“Oh it's nothing. You just stick your tongue out a bit when concentrating and it's very cute.” Kiyoko answered.

 

“C-cute? Oh, um, thanks?” Yachi felt more heat rise to her face and the endearing smile Kiyoko was giving her wasn't helping.

 

After a while Yachi finally decided what she wanted and they both ordered their meals. Kiyoko getting hers very spicy and Yachi going as mild as possible. Now that they were left to just wait for the food to come, Yachi had no idea what to say and hoped to the gods that this date wouldn't get awkward. The gods seemed to answer her silent prayers in the form of Kiyoko being the best person ever. Kiyoko was very good at calming Yachi down even if she didn't know she was doing it. Kiyoko started to talk about their schoolwork which then led them to a discussion about graphic design as well as where they both plan on going career wise.They had fairly similar goals and Yachi felt like crying with happiness when Kiyoko suggest they help each other out in achieving them. They then moved on to talk about their favorite artists, films, music, and so on. The only real break in their conversation being when the food had arrived.

 

“Sweet Jesus this curry is so good!” Yachi almost exclaimed after taking her first bite.

 

“I know right? I really love this place. I'm guessing you haven't been here before?”

 

“Nope! I'm always afraid to try food I know is normally spicy” Yachi laughed nervously.

 

“Oh? You always seem to eat at spicy food places when we go out together though”

 

“Oh well.. that's.. um.. I-I guess I don't mind trying new things out… when I'm with you…” Yachi mumbled more and more as she said the rest of her sentence.

 

Kiyoko’s eyes widened as the blonde spoke, but her expression quickly turned into a fond one.

 

“That's very sweet, Yachi. Next time why don't you take me somewhere you really like to go?”

 

Yachi tried so hard not the screech at the implications of a second date. “N-next time? Y-yeah, sure! Definitely! M-maybe next time we could do something more than just a lunch date?” Yachi started to fiddle with her fingers, poking her 2 index fingers together. “L-like go to the planetarium or aquarium or something?”

 

“That sounds great! I'd love that.”

 

Yachi felt a wave of relief wash over her. The rest of lunch went very well and Kiyoko insisted that she pay since it was her who invited Yachi on this date. Yachi still couldn't get over the fact that this was a date and not just a hang out. Like a real date! Yachi had half a mind not to ramble on to Kyoutani about this but also this was going to be all she talked about forever now.

 

Since it was Wednesday, they both still had to head to class after lunch so they walked back to campus together. For most of the walk Yachi kept her hands by her side, but Kiyoko took it upon herself to reach over and grab her hands. Yachi could tell she was blushing like mad even though all they were doing was holding hands.

 

They didn't have class together so once they got to campus they said their goodbyes. Kiyoko gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving and Yachi almost screamed.

 

_Welp, there goes trying to focus in class_.

 


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> back to kyoutani's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a mess tbh
> 
> i had a plan for this chapter but i kinda just went all over the place and very loosely sticked to what i originally outlined lol
> 
> much longer than the last chapter! (also wow almost up to 30 chapters did not expect this fic to be this long lol)

      Ever since Kyoutani became friends with Yachi, his phone has been way more active than it usually was. He still wasn’t that used to it but it was… nice… having friends that cared and all.  Kyoutani was woken up from yet another nap (the boy likes to nap okay?) by his phone going off. Seeing as 90% of the texts he gets are from Yachi, he was caught a bit off guard to see Iwaizumi’s name flash on his screen. Of course under Iwaizumi’s text notification there was at least 10 or more text messages from Yachi, but he’d get to those later.

 

He sat up from where he was laying on the couch (no one else was home so it was quiet enough for him to sleep out in the living room) and unlocked his phone. 

 

**Iwaizumi [4:00pm]** hey me and v-ball crew are going out for food Friday night, wanna join?

 

**Kyoutani [5:00pm]** sounds good lmk what time n where

 

Kyoutani put his phone aside and nuzzled into the couch again, still not fully wanting to be awake. No less than 15 minutes later the front door swung open and Lev waltzed into the apartment. Kyoutani groaned at the sudden noise, turning over and nuzzling his face deep into the couch cushions. Lev immediately noticed him on the couch so obviously his tired, resting body was an open invitation to come and bother him. Since his body was taking up the whole couch, Lev decided that sitting on his butt was a good idea. 

 

“Heeyyy sleepy head” 

 

“Lev if you don’t get your freakishly long body off of me I'm gonna beat your ass” Kyoutani groaned, voice muffled by the couch. 

 

“How can you beat my ass when I'm clearly sitting on yours?” 

 

Kyoutani shifted under Levs weight, placing his hands underneath himself. Then in one swift moment Kyoutani pushed up, causing Lev to yelp and fall forward onto the floor. 

 

“HOW THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT?” He screeched from the floor. 

 

“Well with my leg fucked up, everyday has been arm day at the gym” 

 

They stared at each other in silence before breaking out into laughter.

 

\---

 

Friday rolled around and Kyoutani almost forgot about his dinner plans with Iwaizumi ‘n Co., especially with spending most of Thursday catching up with Yachi and all the hot details from her date with Kiyoko. He would have missed it if it wasn't for Iwaizumi texting him the time and name of the place they were meeting at. When he checked the place online, he noticed it was an izakaya. Kyoutani was under age, but seeing that 99.99% of the time no one gets carded in Japan he didn’t really care. 

 

Kyoutani slowly made his way to the izakaya, knowing he was going to be late anyway so he decided to take his damn time. He still had his crutches but it wasn’t so awful to walk with them anymore. His cast has been changed a couple times and he could put some pressure on his foot when walking, so it wasn’t all too bad. If any of them were going to pester him for being late, he’d just blame it on his leg. 

 

Once getting there it wasn’t hard to find where they were all seated. However, Kyoutani totally forgot that when Iwaizumi said “v-ball crew” that included Oikawa and Yahaba. He could barely stand either of those people on their own, but when they were in the same place? Kyoutani just couldn’t. He suppressed a groan as he took the seat next to Matsukawa. Him, Matsukawa, and Hanamaki were seated on one side with Iwaizumi, Oikawa, and Yahaba on the other side. The fact that Yahaba and Oikawa were sitting next to each other already annoyed Kyoutani. 

 

“And I thought I was the fashionably late one” Hanamaki said with a smirk as Kyoutani sat down. 

 

“Don’t tease, he’s gotta hobble around with that cast on his leg! Poor baby… Ooh I remember the day that happened like it was yesterday” Oikawa replied with a fake pout on his face that he probably thought was cute. 

 

Kyoutani’s face was probably doing something really weird ‘cause Matsukawa practically spit out his drink and started laughing when he looked at him. 

 

“Teasing aside, me and Makki didn’t actually think you went and broke your leg” Matsukawa said finally.

 

“Why would I lie about that?” Kyoutani gave him a questioning look.

 

Matsukawa shrugged. “ ‘Dunno, thought maybe you just didn’t wanna play with us anymore or something. 

 

“Oh. Well I’ll join you guys again once I’m healed… If that’s okay” Kyoutani mumbled the last part, still not 100% sure that anyone besides Iwaizumi actually wanted his company during those practice weekend games. Heck, sometimes he didn’t even think Iwaizumi actually wanted him there. 

 

“Of course it is” Iwaizumi spoke up from across the table. “Now let’s order some food and more drinks!”

  
  


After food and more drinks arrived the table became even more lively. Apparently everyone already had one round of drinks before he got there. Kyoutani opted out of having any alcohol and stuck with water. He was quiet for most of the dinner, which wasn’t really surprising to anyone. He didn’t feel uncomfortable and actually really liked the atmosphere. He thoroughly enjoyed how much Matsukawa and Hanamaki picked on Oikawa. For some reason Yahaba wasn’t being as obnoxious as he usually was. They were seated at opposite ends of the table, but that didn’t stop Kyoutani from noticing how much the other boy kept looking at him. Any time he looked back at him, Yahaba would avert his eyes as if he hadn’t been looking but he was pretty fucking obvious. Kyoutani just shrugged it off and didn’t pay much mind to it. 

 

They ended up ordering a third round and a bit more food. Oikawa started to get a little flush but denied that he was drunk and that he just turned red anytime he drank, whether he was drunk or not. While they waited for more food and drinks there was a bit of a dull in the conversation and for some unknown reason Kyoutani decided to be the one to fill the silence. 

 

“So, uh, do you guys have plans for spring break?” He said hesitantly.

 

“Not that I can think of, why?” Iwaizumi was the one to respond (which Kyoutani was silently thankful for). 

 

“One of my roommates, ah you and Oikawa met them at the ski resort over winter break. Well he wanted to do some day trip to this beach and play some beach volleyball or something so I thought I’d invite you guys too. It’ll probably still be too cold to go into the water but there’s a lot of other stuff to do near that beach, like hiking and what not.”

 

“Hiking? And have you break your  _ other _ leg on the trail?” Oikawa said in a mock nagging tone. 

 

Kyoutani chose to glare at him in response and Iwaizumi smacked the back of his head causing him to yelp. 

 

“Sounds lit as fuck I’m down sign me the fuck up” Hanamaki said enthusiastically, leaning over Matsukawa to give Kyoutani a big thumbs up. 

 

“Yeah, that sounds fun, you can count me in” Iwaizumi smiled at him and Kyoutani let out a small sigh of relief. 

 

Kyoutani said he’d update them later about it when it got closer to spring break and overall he was happy with how this turned out. Sure it’d be annoying having Oikawa and Yahaba along but whatever, there’d be enough of them there that he could just ignore them.

 

That was probably the most Kyoutani spoke all night. For the rest of the time he listened, observed, and just chilled. Hanamaki even made a few teasing remarks about Kyoutani’s word limit being reached so he had to shut down and not talk for the rest of dinner. At some point he started spacing out a bit and looked around the izakaya. However, he suddenly snapped back to reality when he recognized a couple of people. There was a group of about 6 or 7 people being seated at a booth and he swore he recognized a good 4 or 5 people in that group. He continued to stare at them before it clicked. He recognized Jin and Mayuki. It was basically his old group of friends with a couple other shitty people they probably adopted into their group after he left. 

 

“You checkin’ hot babes out or what?” Matsukawa asked nonchalantly. 

 

“What?” Kyoutani turned his attention towards him now. 

 

“Who were you lookin at?” He asked again. 

 

Kyoutani noticed that whatever conversation that was happening at the table had halted and everyone was either looking at Kyoutani or peering across the restaurant to see who he was looking at. 

 

“No one, it’s nothing” He said curtly, looking down at the table and picking up a napkin, slowly tearing its corners. 

 

Iwaizumi gave him a quiet questioning look but he ignored it. 

 

“ _ Oh _ ” Yahaba spoke up, shit eating grin on his face. “Aren’t those people your old buddies, Kyoutani?”

 

Kyoutani glared at him for a moment before his glare was replaced with confusion. “Wait.. why do you even know that?”

 

“Kyoutani, my boy, you had quite the reputation on campus. Still do, actually. And I’m not even going to try and hide the fact that I’m a hoe for gossip.”

 

“Ooooh is a drama bomb bouta happen?” Oikawa’s eyes sparkled. 

 

“We don’t need to talk about this” Kyoutani huffed. 

 

“Oh but we do!” Yahaba, Oikawa,  _ and _ Hanamaki practically sang in unison. 

 

“Or we don’t. If it’s making him uncomfortable just drop it, okay?” Iwaizumi intervened and Kyoutani didn’t know what he did to have such a great person on his side but he felt blessed. 

 

“But  _ daaaad _ ” Oikawa whined. 

 

“Oh my god, I knew you two had a daddy kink thing going on” Matsukawa gasped. 

 

Hanamaki practically screamed with laughter at that, getting them a lot of looks from the other patrons of the restaurant. 

 

Kyoutani looked over at the booth with his old friends and sure enough Hanamaki’s laughter had caught their attention and they were staring back right at him. He looked away the minute he made eye contact and just tried to pretend he didn’t notice them at all. 

 

Iwaizumi was yelling something at Matsukawa which was only making Hanamaki laugh more, and at this point Yahaba was laughing too. Oikawa just kind of sat there with a smirk on his face. Kyoutani couldn’t help but let out a few laughs himself. Iwaizumi’s face was red and Matsukawa just continued to call him daddy for the rest of the night. 

 

Kyoutani was glad for the distraction. It sounded like Yahaba wanted to just spill gossip and rumors about him at the table the second he saw an opening and he was more than happy to have avoided that outcome. He’d probably lose his temper and he didn’t really want to see wherever that would have gone. But this did make Kyoutani start to think. How much did Yahaba know about him before they even met? Kyoutani had no idea who he was until he met him at that first volleyball game together. He doesn’t really know why he cared about what Yahaba thought of him but it just… bothered him. He knew a part of it was because he didn’t want Iwaizumi to hear about whatever reputation he had. Iwaizumi, Oikawa, Matsukawa, and Hanamaki were all juniors at a different University so outside of Kyoutani’s interactions with them when they played volleyball or when he saw Iwaizumi at work, they didn’t know about the reputation he had at school and it definitely was something he wasn’t proud of. He honestly forgot he ever had such a reputation since he never really paid attention to the gossip and no one’s really bothered him outright. 

 

“Karaoke!” Oikawa practically screamed, snapping Kyoutani out of his thoughts as they all got ready to pay the bill and leave. 

 

“Ooo that ain’t a bad idea” Hanamaki wiggled his eyebrows and nudged Matsukawa. 

 

Kyoutani scrunched his nose. He really didn’t like the idea of karaoke. That meant spending more money and possibly being pressured to sing. 

 

“Pass” He said as he got up, leaning on the chair for support as he retrieved his crutches from where they were leaning against the wall. 

 

“Aww no fun. I wanna see the mad dog sing!” Oikawa waved his hands animatedly as Iwaizumi tried to steady him so that he wouldn’t topple over. 

 

“Shut up, you’re being loud and obnoxious” Iwaizumi scolded. 

 

They split the bill and headed towards the front to leave. Kyoutani could practically feel the eyes of his “old friends” as they walked by their table on their way to the front. It was too loud in the izakaya for him to hear anything they were saying, but he was sure they were talking some shit about him. He avoided looking in their direction, but Iwaizumi, who was walking in front of him, turned his head and gave them a pointed stare. He doesn’t know what they said or how Iwaizumi could hear them, but from just that look alone it got all of them to close their mouths. Kyoutani stifled his laughter as they passed by the table and left. 

 

“Aaah it’s so cold why” Hanamaki immediately dug his hands into Matsukawa’s pockets once they got outside. 

 

“Sure you don’t wanna come along for karaoke?” Iwaizumi asked.

 

“Yeah I’m good. Maybe next time” 

 

“I’m gonna hold you to that! I need to see you sing. I have a  _ mighty need _ ” Oikawa’s said way louder than he needed to. Even if he denied it, that boy was drunk and very much a light weight. 

 

“Uh, sure”

 

“I think I’m gonna pass too” Yahaba piped up. 

 

“Not you too” Oikawa groaned. 

 

“Who needs you youngins anyway! Y’all can miss out on hearing daddy Iwaizumi’s gorgeous voice if you wanna” 

 

“Matsukawa I swear if you call me that one more ti-”

 

“What? You gonna spank me?”

 

“Okay yeah I’m leaving now” Kyoutani waved to them as they said their goodbyes and turned to head towards the station. 

 

To his dismay, Yahaba was tagging along and that meant walking to the station together. Yahaba could have walked faster so that they wouldn’t be together, but he chose to match his pace with Kyoutani’s. 

 

“Are you and Yachi a thing?” Yahaba asked suddenly. 

 

“What? No?” Kyoutani gave him a very confused look. 

 

Yahaba just shrugged in response. “You seem to hang out with her a lot. A good amount of people around campus seem to have noticed and ya know… some people just happen to think you’re dating.” He let out a soft chuckle, “people even talk about how it’s so sad that you’re probably corrupting the poor girl or something.”

 

Kyoutani stayed quiet for a minute, not really knowing how to respond. All he knew was that it pissed him the fuck off. He didn’t care what people said about him, but Yachi? She’s probably the sweetest person he has ever met and he would gladly fight anyone and everyone on campus to protect her. 

 

“Sorry if that-”

 

“Well we’re not.” Kyoutani cut him off abruptly. “Don’t see why that’s fucking important to you though. Or anyone for that matter” 

 

“Geez don’t need to get so mad, was just curious.”

 

“Curious? Well why don’t you mind your own business before it gets your fucking ass beat.”  Kyoutani didn’t know exactly how angry he looked right now but by the look on Yahaba’s face he probably looked pretty pissed. 

 

“I’m sorry, I mean it, okay? I was kind of just teasing you… but looks like I’ve crossed a line and I really am sorry” Yahaba said seriously. 

 

Kyoutani didn’t say anything in response and they continued to the station in silence. They lived in similar directions so they got onto the same train but didn’t sit next to each other. Kyoutani rubbed at his eyes, tiredness taking over his body pretty much the second he sat down. He just wanted to go to sleep and not think about whatever the fuck Yahaba’s deal is. 

 

When he got home he could hear distinct yelling before he even opened the apartment door. Upon entering he found Hinata and Kageyama quarreling, but it was different... it wasn't the usual light-hearted bickering. They froze once he walked in. After a moment of silence, Hinata stormed off, tears trailing down his face, and Kyoutani doesn’t think he’s ever actually seen that small ball of sunshine cry before. 

 

He looked over at Kageyama who was just sort of standing there like he was in some kind of stupor. 

 

“Um,” Kyoutani spoke up, “I’m… not gonna ask and am just gonna head to bed, so… g’night”

 

“...’night”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow! 2 updates in 1 month! amazing 
> 
> hope y'all enjoyed this! 
> 
> please leave thoughts & comments <3


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHA WOW i did NOT mean to be so late with an update!  
> ALSO!! i've probably said this before but the school system in this fic is based off of AMERICAN SCHOOL SYSTEM - as in the yearly schedule - when and how long their breaks are etc... im modeling it after my colleges semester system. I've realized now that it's kinda weird since Japan's school system is very very different and it's tOO late for me to change it now so just deal with it
> 
> also I have a vague plan for this fic (as of rn... highkey just making up stuff as I go) - but if anyone has any suggestions or things they would like to see please leave a comment!
> 
> <3

      Throughout the week Kyoutani immediately noticed that he was running into Yahaba a lot more on campus than normal. Before, he didn’t even know that they went to the same school, and now he was practically seeing “that annoying shit” everyday. Wether it be the cafeteria, on-campus cafe, or just out in the quad, Yahaba was there. Yahaba aside, ever since last week there was a constant uncomfortableness in the apartment, more specifically whenever Hinata and Kageyama were out in the shared living spaces together. Kyoutani knew they had some sort of actual fight last week, having walked in on it, but he wasn’t exactly prepared for… whatever this is.

 

This also meant the apartment was quieter than usual. Lev seemed to be just as lost as Kyoutani on what was going on between them. Lev tried to intervene and get them to do things together as a “family”, but that never worked well at all. Either Hinata or Kageyama would have some excuse to not be there, or if they both did show, there would be this thick, uncomfortable silence.

 

Despite partaking in Lev’s “family gatherings”, Kyoutani generally stayed out of it and continued to ignore the whole thing. He did ask Yachi about it, assuming she may know the cause of all this since her and Hinata are close. She did seem to know something about it, but told Kyoutani that it wasn’t her place to share and she promised Hinata she wouldn’t, which is fair.

 

All-in-all, there was nothing to do about it, so that’s exactly what Kyoutani would do. Nothing.

 

It was Thursday and it was finally march. It was the first sunny and semi-warm day, so most people were outside soaking up what felt like the much-wanted beginnings of spring. Kyoutani also decided to have his lunch outside, sitting on a bench by the quad. He was reading over some stuff for class, papers in one hand, sandwich in the other, as another body joined him on the bench.

 

“Cool if I sit here?” The person spoke up, their voice causing Kyoutani to frown a bit when he realized it had come from Yahaba.

 

“Well you’re already sitting, so what’s the point in asking?” Kyoutani looked away from his papers and gave Yahaba a pointed look.

 

“Um, to be polite, duh?” Yahaba said as he started to take his lunch out of his backpack.

 

“So, if I say you can’t will you leave?”

 

“Nope!”

 

“...thought so” Kyoutani looked back at his handouts, choosing to just stay silent. He had no plans to put any effort into having a conversation with this man.

 

To his surprise, neither did Yahaba. The two of them ate in silence and when Yahaba finished he said a quick “thanks” and “see ya” before leaving. The silence wasn’t particularly awkward, but Kyoutani was just overall surprised that he could share a somewhat comfortable silence with Oikawa’s mini-me.

 

Officially, the past week of Kyoutani’s life has been confusing the fuck out of him. He decided to just shrug it all off and not think too much about it. Later that day, he met up with Yachi. The two of them grabbed a study room in the library, Yachi suggesting they get a jump on studying for the mid-terms that they knew were coming. Kyoutani simultaneously hated and liked the fact that mid-terms would be right before spring break. Although there were the few awful professors who, for some reason, liked to give mid-terms right after the break.

 

Despite thinking it was a bit too early to begin reviewing, he wasn’t going to complain. Yachi was very organized and great at studying, so he knew this could only help him.

 

Yachi got to the study room before him, and upon entering the room he was not surprised to see a whole bunch of snacks splayed out on the table.

 

“I’m not gonna complain, but this is an absurd amount of snacks. This is like.. pulling an all-nighter status of snacks and I did not sign up for that” Kyoutani said as he took a seat across from Yachi at the little table in the room.

 

“Brain food, Kyoutani. Plus you eat a lot and last time we had a study session you ate like all the snacks in under an hour!” Yachi huffed.

 

“True…but I _also_ brought snacks so this is like… too many” Kyoutani reached into his bag, pulling out his laptop, charger, some notebooks, and a couple bags of chips.

 

“You say that now, but I bet most of these are going to be consumed by the time we’re ready to leave.”

 

They spent the first hour studying in relative silence, but Kyoutani could only focus for so long without needing a break. After another 30 minutes, and slight groaning coming from Kyoutani’s side of the table, Yachi suggested they take a little break. Kyoutani immediately saved what he was doing and closed his laptop, stretching back in his seat.

 

“Get a lot done so far?” Yachi asked, opening up a box of oreos.

 

“Sort of? Got a lot done for bio, then I kinda dicked around on the internet a bit…” Kyoutani admitted.

 

“Shame on you” Yachi waggled the tip of her pen at him.

 

“Okay but can anyone truly go a full hour and a half of studying without getting distracted by buzzfeed quizzes?”

 

“Hmm” Yachi squinted her eyes, pretending to be in deep thought, “you raise a good point, sir.”

 

They sit in silence for a couple of minutes, the sounds of them munching on snacks filling the room.

 

“Hey” Kyoutani speaks up, breaking the silence. “Remember Yahaba?”

 

“Hmm? Oh yeah! That weird guy with a nice smile”

 

“Uh… sure?” Kyoutani looked slightly put off hearing Yahaba get complimented.

 

Yachi giggled and wiped some of the crumbs off her face. “Soooo, what about him?”

 

“I’ve just been seeing him everywhere lately, it’s weird… we even had lunch together today. Well, more like he sat down next to me and ate, wether I wanted him there or not. But, we didn’t even talk? Which was… nice?”

 

Kyoutani didn’t know what kind of expression he was making but it made Yachi laugh probably a bit too loud for the library.

 

“Maybe it’s just like how you became friends with your roommates? You found all of them annoying but with enough time you warmed up to them and no you’re friends!”

 

“I guess…” Kyoutani picked at some things as he tried to gather what he wanted to say. “It’s just… it feels different somehow. I don’t know how to explain it, something just feels kind of off.”

 

“Hmm… we’ll maybe he really just does want to be your friend and you’re just warry of him ‘cause he’s not someone you’d consider being friends with?” Yachi suggested. “Like, with your roommates… they’re your roommates so not really people you can entirely avoid! So, eventually becoming friends isn’t so weird or out of the picture. But, with Yahaba being in an entirely different department and how you used to never see each other on campus… with him suddenly wanting to be friends I can see how that feels a bit odd. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about though!”

 

“That make sense but…. Urgghgh it just feels weird!” Kyoutani groaned. “And like, it’s nice he’s not being as annoying but it’s still annoying and weird”

 

“Just give him some time” Yachi smiled, all too brightly, “And you’ve always been straightforward, so if it really starts to bother you just tell him you’re uncomfortable”

 

“True… thanks” Kyoutani scratched at his head, deciding to just leave that as that.

 

“Of course! Now, I think we’ve taken a long enough break. Back to work!”

 

“Ugh”

 

After about 2 and a half more hours of doing work, and eating through majority of the snacks, they decided to call it quits for the night and head home.

 

When Kyoutani got home the apartment seemed empty, but he noticed some of his roommates shoes by the entrance so that meant someone was home. He made his way towards his room, stopping briefly infront of Hinata’s door. Kyoutani could faintly hear Hinata and Kageyama’s voices in there, but they didn’t sound like they were fighting (if they were it would’ve been a lot louder.)

 

_Welp, hopefully they’re settling whatever fucking problem they had._

 

Right as Kyoutani started to walk away, a very clear moaning sound came from Hinata’s room. Kyoutani’s body went stiff and he’s never felt so uncomfortable in his life (that’s probably a lie but as of right now it’s 100% the truth.) He knew it was none of his business but he really did not want his roommates to start fucking. Anything but that.

  
He quickly went into his room, slamming his door loud enough so that they could hear that someone is home.

 

This day was really too weird for Kyoutani and he really needed to rest.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Please leave comments or thoughts! <3
> 
> (oh also the title to this fic was inspired by the Death Cab For Cutie song)
> 
> p.s. updates will probably be kinda slow and inconsistent because of schoolwork


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